To Measure My Capacity
by Uniden
Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure? Pairings revealed in later chapters, input and suggestions appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Itachi looked down on his brother, his Mangekyou Sharingan fading from view.

"Why," Sasuke gasped, "Why did you kill them?"

"To measure my capacity."

"Then why?" A confused Sasuke asked. "Why am I still alive?"

"That's simple. You're not worth killing now." Itachi turned away, and started disappearing into the shadows. He paused and looked back upon his brother's shaking form for a moment before speaking.

"Hate me, Sasuke. Live to hate me. Live to avenge our pathetic clan. Use your anger as a tool to help you gain power. You have so much potential; potential to give me a proper measure of my power. Do not disappoint me." With that he disappeared into the shadows intent on leaving the pathetic Konoha village for good.

* * *

Naruto was crying now. He didn't know why this was happening. What did he ever do to deserve this? He's only 6 years old! All he did was bump into the guy. How did that deserve the beating he was receiving now? He had said sorry! He had repeated it over and over. But it still didn't stop - the pain. The pain was unbearable. Why wouldn't it end? Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the incoming bottle, and then - blackness. 

Itachi heard the breaking of glass soon after he left the Uchiha compound. That in itself would not cause him to stop his flight from Konoha, but then he heard voices.

"Come on," a man's voice said, "he's as good as dead anyway. You hit him over the head and stabbed the little monster; he's not going to live that."

An obviously drunken man replied. "But – I wanna watch 'em bleed! Deserves it, he does, afta' what he did ta ma brother! Damn demon!"

Itachi was strangely intrigued by the development he changed his course towards the commotion. Jumping over the wall separating himself from the ruckus he came across a bloody scene. Sure, it was nothing like the slaughter he just left behind, but still bloody. The sight of a small body surrounded by copious amounts of blood greeted him. There was no way this kid could be alive having lost that much blood. Itachi approached the body and was surprised to see it breathing. His surprise didn't show, of course. Itachi firmly believed that if you can keep your emotions in check you can have a huge psychological advantage over your opponents in any battle.

'Oh well, I'd better leave,' Itachi thought. 'Good luck, kid, maybe you'll live'. Taking one last glance at the boy, he saw something that impressed him, and Itachi was not one easily impressed by anything. The various cuts on his face and hands were healing at a remarkable rate. Looking down he noticed the stab wound in his chest closing.

'This can't be normal! Only medical jutsu can do something like this, unless…' Taking a closer look at the filthy and blood-soaked hair of the boy confirmed Itachi's suspicion. 'So, this is the Kyuubi vessel. He has impressive regenerative powers. Perhaps he would prove to be a valuable measure of my strength later. But not if he's left in this village, they'll probably kill him. I can't very well test my skills on something dead.'

Making up his mind, Itachi picked the tenderized body up and carried it out of the village piggy back styles. Reaching the outskirts of the village Itachi took one last look before putting as much distance between them and the hunter-nins that would soon be after him as possible.

_

* * *

Hokage-sama,_

_I have taken/saved the Kyuubi vessel from the village. I don't plan to do anything that would kill the boy or free the Kyuubi. You have nothing to worry about, but I doubt you believe that. He will be returned to the village when he is strong enough to defend himself from those who seek to destroy him, like random drunks. Do not bother sending ANBU after us, they will not find anything._

_Uchiha Itachi._

The Hokage sighed. 'I'm truly sorry Arashi, but it looks like your dying wishes won't be fulfilled. I tried, but some people just won't change. Most will be happy the kid's gone.'

It would be 2 years before the Hokage stopped actively looking for Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Naruto woke the bright sunlight and birds singing their various tunes. He wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, or how he'd ended up in the middle of a forest. The last thing he could recall was a bottle being swung in his direction. Slowly that night's events came back to him. He'd just finished a bowl or four of ramen and was on his way home after a day at the academy. He'd run around a corner and bumped into someone. He'd said a quick 'Sorry!' before continuing at a more leisurely pace. However, a hand grabbed his neck, and a rough voice said 'Sorry's not going to cut it, demon. I think you need a lesson.' Then there was a sharp pain in Naruto's stomach. And then another. All over his body. The man was beating him, but Naruto didn't know why. All he could think was to say 'Sorry', and then he'd go away, so he repeated it over and over again, willing the pain to stop. 'I'm sorry!' he said between sobs, 'S-sorry…' he started mumbling, before curling up into a ball. It seemed to stop then. But then he saw the bottle. 

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when a teenage looking boy with blank hair and black eyes, wearing mostly black, walked in to the clearing.

"So you're finally awake, Naruto-kun." His voice sounded bored and emotionless to Naruto.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked, jumping to his feet. He pointed at Itachi and exclaimed, "And who the hell are you!"

"You're in a forest, and I am Uchiha Itachi."

'Again with the bored voice' Naruto thought 'You would think he'd be a bit more interested in well… life.'

"And what the hell am I doing 'in a forest'?' Naruto said, mocking Itachi's monotonous voice as best he could with his own 6 year old voice.

Itachi stared blankly at Naruto, as if the answer was obvious. "I brought you here after I found you bleeding and close to death, away from the village that hates you. I have an offer to make.'

"What kind of offer?" Naruto asked, interested. Sure, this Itachi guy may look boring but he didn't seem to hate Naruto like everyone else, and apparently he'd saved him.

"I want to train you to become stronger."

"Why would I want that? And why would you want that?"

Itachi sighed, which was the most expressive thing Naruto had seen him do. "If you were stronger, no body would hurt you. No drunkard could pick on you. You can stand up for yourself and what you believe in."

Naruto thought about it for a moment. "But I don't just want to become strong! I want everyone to notice me!"

"You can do that through strength. You can force people to see you, and see things your way."

'Do I want that?' Naruto asked himself. 'Do I want to be noticed through fear? No.' "But Itachi-san, I don't just want to be noticed, I want to be respected. I want to have friends. I can't do that if everyone fears me."

"You can gain respect through strength. By helping others you would help yourself by gaining their respect. You can do that through strength I can give you."

Naruto was happy now. "Alright! Let's do this then!" Naruto's mood suddenly changed for suspicious to happy to suspicious. "But, wait, what do you get out of this?"

"A genius's life is hard, Naruto-kun. I was a prodigy among prodigies. I am part of the elite Uchiha clan, renowned for their skills. This alienated me from everyone. There were none to test my skills against, none to challenge me, or force me to become the best I could be. I see potential in you to become strong – so strong you could challenge me. I seek one to measure my capacity against. I have found only one other like you, one other with the potential to push my limits. He is my little brother, Sasuke. In time, I hope you two will grow enough for me to test my skills against."

Naruto was surprised 'He wants to train me so I can… fight him? Can I do that?'

"O-okay, I accept. When do we start training?"

"Right now," Itachi said.

"Alright!"

"Naruto-kun, do you know what chakra is?" Itachi asked.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! We learnt all about it in the academy!"

Itachi was pleased, not that it showed. 'Good, saves me some time'. "Okay Naruto-kun, we're going to learn how to walk up trees using only our chakra. Now watch."

Itachi made formed a hand seal and Naruto saw the chakra gather under his feet. He then calmly walked to the base of the tree Naruto was sleeping against earlier and proceeded to walk up it.

Naruto's eyes were wide in amazement, "Sugoi!"

"Now you try."

"Alright! I'll do this easily!" Naruto copied the hand seal Itachi used earlier and gathered the chakra to his feet. He then ran at the tree, trying to run up as fast as he could. He didn't get fair before falling on his head.

Naruto rubbed his head, muttering.

"Naruto-kun, walk up the tree. Do not run. Here," Itachi pulled out a kunai and threw it beside Naruto. "Use that to mark how far you get. Remember, don't run."

"Right, right," Naruto muttered, walking to the base the tree. He got two steps before falling.

"I will go catch some food. Keep at it, and remember, do not run." Itachi said, leaving the clearing.

"Whatever, I'll have this done by the time you get back!" Naruto shouted after him.

* * *

It was several hours before Itachi returned. He saw Naruto run to the tree, make it three-quarters of the way up before losing his control and landing, this time, on his feet. 

"Hey, Itachi-san!" Naruto was pretty happy with his progress. "Look how far I made it up the tree!"

Itachi's disappointment didn't show. 'He needs to learn discipline, and he needs to change his attitude. It is essential for a ninja to be keep his cool in any situation. I must teach him that if he is to be of any value.'

"Naruto-kun, come here." Itachi withdrew a kunai from his pouch and drew a circle with an estimated diameter of 2 meters. "Okay, this is a very valuable lesson for any ninja to learn. When you pass it, you will have an advantage in any battle you fight. Are you willing to do it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto didn't really know what the importance of the circle was, but any advantage he could get would make him stronger. "Sure! I'll do what ever you say!"

'I hope he means that, or I may have been wrong about him' Itachi thought. "Very well, Naruto-kun. Stand in the circle." Naruto shrugged and did so. "Do not leave this circle until the sun sets. The consequences for doing so will be very… painful. Do. You. Understand?" Itachi made sure he emphasized each word, to make sure Naruto had heard and understood them.

Naruto didn't really understand the importance of not leaving the circle, but nodded anyway. Itachi's lips upturned ever so slightly at the nod.

"Good, we shall start." Itachi pulled out two shuriken and threw them at Naruto.

"What the hell!" Naruto exclaimed, quickly dodging to the side, though not quick enough to dodge both, the second stabbing in to his left arm. "What are you trying to do!"

"Do not leave the circle, Naruto-kun. You must have discipline if you are to be an effect and powerful ninja." Itachi's response did not reassure Naruto at all.

Naruto pulled out the shuriken still embedded in his arm. "You could have killed me!" He was angry, now. He threw the shuriken at Itachi with all his strength, but missed.

"Naruto-kun, you need to learn to control your anger, and hide you emotions. If you can do this you gain a huge psychological advantage over your opponent. If they cannot read your emotions, they do not know how strong you are. They cannot tell if you are weak, because you are not afraid. They cannot tell you are strong, because you are arrogant. Discipline. That is what you must learn, Naruto-kun. Discipline of yourself and your emotions. Only then can we start your training, as only then you will be ready for it."

Naruto was not a happy camper. "I want to be strong, but this is stupid! Let me out!"

"Shut up." Itachi quickly formed some hand seals and drew breath "**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!**"

Several small balls flew out of Itachi's mouth and speed quickly towards Naruto, who dodged as much as possible, the flames licking him as the went pass. Not giving Naruto time to yell at him, Itachi started throwing kunai at Naruto from various directions, occasionally adding some weak elemental attacks. 'He is doing better than I expected. Maybe there is hope for him. Unless…'

"**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!**" A giant fireball flew at Naruto, who had no room to dodge in his circle. He lunged to the side and out of the circle to avoid the fireball, still feeling the immense heat it gave off. He stared wide-eyed at Itachi, shocked at what he had just done - the fact he'd made a fireball that large and the fact it could have killed him.

"…what the hell was that! Are you trying to kill me!" Naruto screamed when he'd finally recovered from his shock.

"You still have not learnt Naruto-kun. You still do not have the discipline required to succeed. We will work on this until you do." He turned away from Naruto and began picking up the spent kunai and shuriken he'd thrown.

"Well what was I supposed to do! Take it to the face?" Naruto still did not understand the principle of the exercise.

"Sometimes it is more important to suffer now in order to avoid it later." Itachi still had his back to Naruto. "That reminds me… do you remember that I said that the consequences for leaving the circle would be very painful?" When Itachi turned around, Naruto saw his eyes were blood red which some strange black design.

"Itachi-san, your ey…" Naruto blacked out for a second before waking in a strange dreamscape. He was strapped to a cross, with Itachi standing in front of him. "What the hell is this!"

"This is my world. The world of the **Tsukuyomi**. This will be your punishment until you discipline yourself. Now, shall we start?"

* * *

The sun had finally set. Naruto was bruised, burnt and bloody, but more importantly, still inside the parameter of the circle. 

"Good, Naruto-kun. It has been two months, but you've passed the exercise. You can now start to obtain the strength you desire." 'And the strength I require of you'.

Naruto, breathing heavily, smiled weakly, before passing out, the small smile still on his face.

Naruto awoke near midday. Itachi handed him some food which he readily accepted. "We will try tree walking again today. Remember your lessons and follow my commands without fail." Naruto nodded.

Naruto stood and walked to the base of the tree. Making a hand signal he focused chakra to his feet and attempted to walk up the tree. He made it about half way before losing his control. He didn't curse, didn't yell, didn't make a noise, he just tried again. This time he made it to the top, where he called done to Itachi, "I did it." There was no hint of bragging, it just came out as a statement.

Itachi smiled. "Good, Naruto-kun." 'You will achieve your strength, and I will acquire my measure.'

* * *

Story ends here----------------------  
Uhh, yeah, hey. This is my first fanfic for anything, and well, pretty much my first time writing something creative. The idea for this story popped into my head at like, 4am when I was trying to get to sleep. I've contemplated writing a story before, but never did get around to it. Anyway, now that I've actually started I hope I'll keep going.

Teams will be probably be decided on the votes I get for pairings. **I** **will not be doing yaoi**, I've never read it and would have no idea how to write it. Well, that can said about M/F pairings, but meh... Anyway, these're the people I'll be willing to do. 

Naruto/Sakura

Naruto/Hinta

Naruto/Ino

Naruto/TenTen

Naruto/Temari

Naruto/Anko

Naruto/Kurenai

Naruto/Tsunade

Naruto/Haku (Female)

Naruto/Kyuubi (Female)

So really any female. Not sure if I'll do pairings with others, but I might. If no female has a vote by the end of chapter 2, they're out for good, though they might be a secondary character.

Yeah, this fic probably seems like every other story you've seen, and it sorta seemed that way writing it. It'd be almost impossible to write something completely original. I'm just going to write and read the reviews while trying to get better and not give up.

I don't plan on making Naruto god-like, but he will be good and his attitude will be different from the anime/manga. However, there'll still be bits of the old Naruto showing through. Well, that's what I plan anyway.

Reviews would help, so uhh, please do that.

I'll put the next chapter up in a few days. I could write it much sooner but I'd rather see your input to see if I can improve the basic idea I have for the story.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**

* * *

Chapter 2**

The next morning was bright and clear, although chilly. Itachi and Naruto were sitting in their favorite clearing eating some form of meaty breakfast Itachi caught. Both were silent until Naruto broke the peace with a question he had been waiting to ask.

"Ne, Itachi-san, do you know anything about my family?"

Itachi seemed to think for a moment before speaking. "No. I can't seem to recall hearing anything about the Uzumaki family. But you must remember that I'm not much older than you, so it is not so strange."

Itachi saw the disappointment cross Naruto's face when he had finished speaking. He had covered it up quickly enough, but to the trained eye it was obvious. 'He's trying his best to hide all his emotion at all times it seems. Perhaps I need to explain the purpose of my teachings in greater detail.'

"Naruto-kun, I believe I have fallen slightly short with my discipline training. I've taught you that emotions must be controlled at all times. Emotions are dangerous things, as they allow a person to be manipulated and exploited. This is why it is of utmost importance for emotions to be controlled in battles. However, emotions are also what make us human. Without them, we cannot be considered living."

"Uhh, Itachi-san, you're not making much sense."

Itachi sighed. "What I'm trying to tell you is that emotions must be controlled during battles. However, if you do not _feel_ when the battle is over, you may as well have died in the fight. Why fight, why become stronger, if there is no reward at the end of the day?"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a time. "I see. But I don't really know why you're telling me that, you don't seem to be following your own teachings."

Itachi stared at Naruto for a time, his eyes seemly looking into Naruto's soul. "No, I do not. Tell me, Naruto-kun, why do you think I'm training you?"

Naruto's surprise showed. "Err, so we can fight later to see how strong you really are?"

"Partly. The main reason is to see if it's possible to attain the strength I have without becoming the same as me. The reward I spoke of, Naruto-kun, I do not receive it. The only reason for my existence is to drive others to succeed, to push themselves further. I have hurt many. My redemption comes from my death at their hands. That is the true reason for training you, so you might one day end my existence."

Naruto was beyond shock. 'He's training me to kill him? How can I possibly do that?'

"Do not focus on that right now, Naruto-kun. I have much to teach you and the sooner we start the real training, the better. However, you're soon going to need new clothes."

Naruto, still in a stunned state, looked down to notice his clothes were in a pretty bad state. Various holes made by kunai and shuriken littered the orange and blue jump suit. One of the sleeves was almost entirely burnt off at the shoulder, and he'd grown an inch since he'd last changed clothes.

"Do you know the Henge no jutsu Naruto-kun?" Itachi doubted he'd learnt that at the academy just yet as he was only there for a year or so before they had left.

"No, I didn't really learn much at the academy." Naruto looked a bit saddened. "The teachers didn't seem to like me much so I had to learn from books most of the time."

"I see. Well, it is a very basic and standard jutsu that every ninja should know. The user assumes the appearance of another person or animal. It can be seen through by other ninja, but for what we will use if for it should be sufficient."

"And what're we going to be using it for, Itachi-san?"

"You need new clothes. For one, orange is a terrible color. Secondly, you'll soon outgrow the ones you currently have. There's a small town about a half a day's walk from here that has a clothing store."

"Why do we need this Henge thing if we're just buying clothes?" Naruto had no idea why a jutsu was needed for a simple thing such as shopping.

"People are looking for us. I do not intend for them to succeed." Itachi paused and thought for a moment. "This can also be considered your first mission."

"Why? I don't see how buying clothes can be considered a mission."

"Tell me, Naruto-kun, do you have any money?" Naruto shook his head. "Neither do I. Let's start training, shall we?"

* * *

The tree was nothing more than carbon and smoke. Naruto straightened with a small smirk on his face. It had taken him a while, but he'd finally gotten it. 

"Good Naruto-kun. Your hand sealing speed has increased greatly. Now work on putting as much chakra into the attack as possible, it will help increase your chakra capacity." 'Not that you really need it'.

Naruto turned around to see Itachi observing him from the edge of clearing, half emerged in shadow. "Hai, Itachi-sensei, but aren't there some fire attacks stronger than **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu**?"

Itachi nodded. "There are several. Two I know, one I can teach you."

Naruto frowned. "You're holding out on me!"

It was Itachi's turn to frown at that. "No, Naruto-kun. It is impossible. **Amaterasu **is only usable by those with the Mangekyou Sharingan. It is extremely powerful. It produces black fire that can burn through anything. However, I will teach you **Katon: Karyu Endan **later. It is probably the most powerful fire jutsu next to **Amaterasu**, but much more versatile."

"Aww, why can't you teach me now?" Naruto pouted.

"We have a mission."

Naruto's pouting vanished. "What is it?"

Itachi walked to Naruto and handed him some papers. "Nothing hard. A small village to the west has been having trouble with some thugs that moved in. The village does not have a police force so the mayor needed to hire some help."

"I see. When do we leave?" Naruto asked.

"We don't. This will be your first solo mission." Itachi turned at started walking out of the clearing. He looked back over his shoulder at Naruto. "My advice would be to kill the leader quickly. Leaders are key figures in any circumstance. Without them, there is confusion. If you kill a leader, followers do not know what to do. The leader is the strongest or most intelligent of the group. If someone can kill their leader, then obviously they can kill the followers. You can avoid a lot of hassle if you take the leader quickly."

Naruto nodded and then grinned. "This should be easy!" Muttering a quick **Henge** Naruto turned into an attractive young woman with long, blonde pigtails wearing… well, not much.

"See you soon, sensei!" A still grinning Naruto disappeared.

* * *

It didn't take long for Naruto to reach the village. Posing as an innocent young woman seemed like a good way to get close to the leader of a gang of brutal thugs. Slowing down to a more acceptable pace for an apparently defenseless woman, Naruto entered the village. It wasn't much, just a few shops, several houses and an inn. 

Naruto grinned 'Bet they're in the inn. Time for Naruto's acting debut!'

The door to the inn opened and a young woman entered. An attractive young woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a great figure. She had some traveling boots on, but not much else.

The small, wiry man that had been facing the door noticed her first. "Well, well, well! What do we have here!"

5 other heads turned towards the newcomer. Various cat calls and wolf whistles sounded through the smoky air.

'Filthy looking lot' Naruto thought, acting the part of a timid woman. 'I've been living in a forest training for two years and I look better than these guys.'

"Um, excuse me, but I'm looking for a room for the night." The woman said.

A large man who had been silent until then stood and spoke. "I'm sure I can help you with that. In fact, you can have a room for free, all you have to do is share it with me!"

The room broke in to laughter, the men obviously thought his proposal was hilarious. Some were holding their stomachs laughing while others made suggestive gestures with their hands.

'Oh yeah, this is going to be easier than I thought' "Um, no, that's okay. I can pay for my own room."

The large man, obviously the leader of this band of thugs, made a move towards Naruto. "Look, little missy, you don't have a choice. Now how about you come with me quietly and no one needs to get hurt, eh?" He pulled a knife out of his pocket and flipped it open, brandishing the blade towards the woman.

The woman looked terrified. "N-no, please, I just want a room for the night! I-I'll pay double!" The woman's hands fell to her sides, while she looked at the ground, trembling.

'Oh, crap.' Naruto thought 'This is not good. I forgot my kunai and I don't really have any single target jutsu that can be used to kill this guy quickly and safely. Hmm… I guess I could try that…'

**FLASHBACK**

"Naruto-kun, come here."

Naruto came to where Itachi was standing. "Hai, Itachi-sensei?"

"I have been thinking. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **is quite useful, as you found out on our last mission. However, it is a waste of chakra if you are only going to use them as shields or suicide units using **Bunshin Daibakuha**. I have been thinking about a Taijutsu style for you. Improve your Taijutsu, and your clones will be more useful."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "That's true, so what style will you be teaching me?"

"An experimental style, it has no name. I do not use Taijutsu very much, I prefer Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. However, I once fought a man from the Hyuuga clan. The Hyuuga are famous for their Taijutsu style, Jyuken, as it is considered the most powerful in Konoha. However, it is pointless to try to copy as it cannot be properly used unless you have the Hyuuga bloodline limit, the Byakugan."

"So what does this have to do with an experimental style?" Naruto asked.

"Although I cannot teach you proper Jyuken, I can show you the stances I copied, and introduce to you the theories of this new Taijutsu style. Are you interested, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure!"

And so Itachi started to explain the concepts and theories of this new Taijutsu style.

**END FLASHBACK**

Naruto grinned in his mind. 'Yeah, this might work. If not, well, I'd have to fight my way out anyway.'

The leader approached Naruto. "So what do you say, little missy, you going to come quietly like a good girl?"

The woman looked up at the man through her long eyelashes. She took a hesitant step back with her right leg.

The man frowned. "I guess not." He then grinned. "I like it better this way!"

He charged towards the woman who had sank back slightly on her back leg, causing it to bend and make the woman appear shorter. As the man approached the woman raised her arms from her sides and held them out, palms facing forward, left arm above her front leg, right arm held near her kidney.

The man was about to charge his body into the woman when her right palm shot out. She slammed her palm into the man's chest and released as much chakra as she could from her hand as she could, before quickly withdrawing her palm incase another strike was needed. The short burst of foreign chakra entered the man's body, destroying muscles and organs, before reaching the heart and completely destroying the man's chakra system.

The rest of the men in the room went from grinning idiots to shocked spectators. This woman had just killed their leader in one attack!

The woman watched the body fall to the ground before turning to the men and speaking in an ice cold tone. "Get out now. Leave this village and never come back. If I see any of you near here again I won't let you live." The look in her icy blue eyes left no doubt in the minds of the men that she was serious.

* * *

Naruto handed Itachi a small bag of money. "Mission successful." 

"Well done, Naruto-kun. How did it go?"

Naruto explained his story, overlooking the fact he forgot his kunai. "You were right though, Itachi-sensei. That Taijutsu style requires a lot of chakra and stamina. It's also dangerous to use in friendly fights, you can't really control what you're hitting like you would be able to with Jyuken. You could cause mass destruction to many vital organs or hit something that has no effect whatsoever. It's random and would produce unexpected results."

Itachi nodded.

They sat in silence for several minutes until Itachi spoke. "Unexpected is good. Expectations are very dangerous. Those thugs had expectations of you, and it proved fatal. People with expectations are surprised when things do not go how they think they should. If you expect something from someone, you are instantly at a disadvantage. You ignore the possible and focus on the probable. Being unexpected and surprising is an advantage you never want to lose."

Naruto nodded at this, seeing the wisdom in Itachi's words.

"Remember this, Naruto-kun. 'People are stupid'. They see what they want to see, and ignore what they do not want to see. They brag about their skills, and they lose their element of surprise." He paused letting this sink in. "In a fight, use every Jutsu as if it's your last. Will it to end the fight. As soon as you do something unexpected, it will become expected, and you have forever lost the element of surprise."

Silence settled in again before Itachi spoke once more. "You remember, Naruto-kun, when I told you about my clan?" Naruto nodded slowly. "They had expectations. Expectations of me; expectations of the clan, of its growth and glory. They did not expect what happened to them. They expected everyone to confirm to their views. Their end shows the kind of folly expectations can produce."

Itachi stood. "Now, I promised to teach you **Katon: Karyu Endan**. We will start tomorrow. When you have mastered that, I will teach you more Jyuken stances."

Naruto smiled and stood, pleased with the day's events. 'I'm getting stronger. I will return to Konoha and prove myself – one day.'

* * *

Story ends here-----

Right, I wasn't actually planning to do a chapter like this, so if it sucked, that may have been why. It pretty much wrote itself, I didn't plan it. I mostly did it to give people more of a chance to vote for pairings. The story should 'start' again next chapter. Now, for the pairing thing:

**Voteing will close when I start writing chapter 4 or 5.** **However, I MIGHT do a rivalry type thing if there is a tie or something close to it. Voting would continue in this scenario.**

Naruto/Sakura: 1 

Naruto/Hinata: 4

Naruto/Ino: 0

Naruto/TenTen: 3

Naruto/Temari: 2

Naruto/Anko: 2

Naruto/Kurenai: 0

Naruto/Tsunade: 0

Naruto/Haku (Female): 3

Naruto/Kyuubi (Female): 2

**Please only vote for one pairing.**

Now, I pretty much counted any vote for anyone this chapter. I sort of forgot to mention '**please only vote for one pairing**'. You _could_ post who you don't want them to end up with, but I won't do any minus to vote thing, though it may influence the story.

If you want to you recast your vote, I'll void your previous ones. From now on I'll just take the first one people mention in their reviews.

Thanks for the reviews, I was surprised no one said it wasn't original or it sucked.

Now, I use wikipedia mainly for the jutsu names and stuff, and I figured I'd just post a list of the jutsu used each chapter incase anyone is confused. I'm not entirely sure if that's allowed, but oh well. These may or may not be right, but it's easiest for me, and I'm lazy.

**JUTSU LISTING**

**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu** (Fire Style - Art of the Phoenix Flower)

**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

**Tsukuyomi** (Moon Reader)

**Amaterasu** (Shining Heaven)

**Katon: Karyu Endan** (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)

**Henge no Jutsu **(Transformation Technique)

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Jutsu)

**Bunshin Daibakuha** (Clone Great Explosion)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**

* * *

Chapter 3**

It had been three years since Naruto had left Konoha. The effects of the three years training in a forest were evident to the observer from the obvious changes to Naruto's body. Well, as obvious as changes can be to a relatively small 9 year old boy's body. Naruto would never be one to be called bulky, but his muscles were toned as well as they could be considering the boy's physiology. He no longer wore his orange and blue jumpsuit, of course, favoring a dress style similar to Itachi's – black with black. Naruto's normal outfit consisted of a black T, black pants and sandals, and black gloves with metal protectors. However, Naruto had recently acquired a solid white overcoat that, when buttoned up, covered his entire body leaving only the upper part of his face visible, due to the high neck, effectively covering up the strange birth marks on his face. He also sported a haircut similar to that of Itachi's; his hair was tied back in a messy ponytail while his forehead and eyes were partially obscured by the uncontrollable hair that existed there. Naruto silently swore to himself to get a bandana type thing to hold his hair back next time he was in a town.

The most obvious thing about Naruto's training, however, was his attitude. Disciplined, collected, controlled, almost cold. His no-nonsense attitude when focused on a task would inspire jealously in many, even those older than hims- "Ne, Itachi-sensei! I've done this stupid task you gave me, now teach me something useful!" cough

Itachi looked up from the scroll he was reading to see Naruto enter the clearing, his clothes covered with dirt and mud, his fingernails bleeding. The look on Naruto's face was priceless. It was a cross between angry, proud and confused. "The task I assigned you was useful, Naruto-kun."

"Useful!" Naruto yelled. "How is digging a tunnel from one side of this clearing to the other 'useful'! And with my hands! Couldn't you just teach me a jutsu to do it?"

Itachi looked evenly at Naruto, not affected by his outburst in the slightest. "You never know when you might need to dig a tunnel to escape a battle or ambush someone." He said seriously. "Better to get some practice."

Naruto almost fell over. "That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard! Now teach me something useful!"

Itachi shook his head. "No, Naruto-kun, I have finished teaching you. It is time we went our separate ways."

Naruto's attitude completely reversed at that. "What do you mean 'we should go our separate ways?" Naruto's face fell, his expression becoming one of sadness and confusion. "Weren't you going to train me to become strong?"

"You have strength, Naruto-kun, enough to defend yourself against possible attacks. I have taught you as much as I intended."

"But why? Can't you stay and teach me more?" Naruto didn't want Itachi to leave him. Itachi was the only person he knew that respected him, aside from the Hokage, but Naruto hadn't seen him for over 3 years.

"I've decided to join an organization called the Akatsuki. They have many powerful members and enemies for me to test myself against."

"But surely there's more you can teach me." Naruto pouted. "You can join that Aka- thingy later!"

"No. It must be now. You must be allowed to evolve on your own from now on, with no influence from me. There are two ways to defeat an opponent, Naruto-kun. Using your strengths or using their weaknesses." Itachi paused to make sure Naruto understood this before continuing.

"If two enemies encounter each other too often they begin to learn each others strengths and weaknesses, and each fight thereafter becomes a stalemate. I will not allow this to happen with us. I know all your current strengths and weaknesses, and you know some of mine. This would create problems later."

Naruto was not willing to accept this. "I don't know anything about you except that you're strong!"

Itachi sighed at his determination. "You know more about me than you think. Tell me, during our discipline training did you feel that the time you spent world of **Tsukuyomi** lessened as the training went on?"

Naruto became thoughtful at this, thinking back to the time that seemed so long ago now. "I guess. Maybe I became used to the pain or something."

Itachi shook his head. "No, each time I tied you to that cross you were fighting me and my hold over you, if only subconsciously." Itachi looked to the sky, a look of remembrance crossing his face. "As time went on you started to throw off the effects of my greatest strength quite easily. **Tsukuyomi **not meant to be used multiple times on the same target. It is intended to end fights quickly, or destroy a person psychologically. I made a mistake using it on you as a means to physically torture."

Naruto looked to the ground, a frown crossing his face. "I-I don't want you to leave me, Itachi-sensei."

"It is required. You should either return to Konoha or find another sensei. There are many powerful shinobi wandering the lands, if you search them out. Never stop becoming stronger, and one day we will meet again."

Itachi turned away from Naruto and began walking to the tree edge. Once he reached it he spoke once more, casting one last glace at Naruto's downcast form. "Naruto-kun, if you ever meet my brother Sasuke, do what you can to train him, and learn off each other. I need both of you to be as strong as possible. Also, do not mention my name to anyone, especially Sasuke. These are my only requests for my teachings."

Itachi turned back and disappeared into the shadows of the tree, leaving Naruto alone in the clearing. Fighting tears, Naruto heard one last thing from Itachi, "Do not disappoint me, Naruto-kun."

At that, Naruto broke down, the tears flowing freely, falling to the ground below.

* * *

Itachi observed Naruto for a few minutes from the trees, a slight frown playing across his normally neutral face. 'I would have thought I had taught him to control his emotions better than this.' The frown disappeared. 'It is of no consequence. He controls his emotions in battle and that is all I require of him.' 

Itachi finally turned and started making his way away from the place he had called home for 3 years, intent on making up lost training time. 'Do not disappoint me, Naruto-kun. Prove to me you can have strength and live at the same time.'

Jumping from tree to tree Itachi increased his speed, now surprisingly eager to meet the Akatsuki representative he had spoken to and received a scroll from earlier. It outlined Akatsuki's goals for the future, which included something to do with the Kyuubi. 'I forgot to tell Naruto-kun about the Kyuubi.' Itachi mentally shrugged. 'It is of no concern, it may even work in my favor. I know little about the Kyuubi other than that most know.'

Itachi actually became happy, well as happy as Itachi can be, at the fact he forgot. 'The stronger Naruto-kun gets without knowledge of the Kyuubi, the stronger he will become when he finds out. And once he does, if he finds someone to train him in its use… yes, I am glad of my investment in Naruto-kun'.

With that final thought, a small smirk appeared on Itachi's otherwise blank features. A slight upturning of the right lip was all that indicated thoughts about his accomplishments as he sped on through the forest.

* * *

After a time Naruto got a hold of his emotions. 'I suppose he's right, we do need to spend some time away from each other. I just wish he didn't leave me so suddenly.' 

Looking around the clearing he had called home for the past 3 years Naruto decided there was no point staying. 'I guess I'd better head to Konoha. Not like there's anything for me here now.'

Gathering his belongings, which didn't consist of much – a kunai pouch, a shuriken pouch, his white coat and the remains of their mission rewards, which surprisingly wasn't much – Naruto exclaimed out loud "Alright! It's time to go back to Konoha!" He sweat dropped, and muttered "Only I have no idea where Konoha is…" Shaking his head, Naruto decided he'd better just go to the closet town and head out from there.

Exiting the clearing Naruto looked back and cast one last longing glance at the place he had learnt so much at. 'I'll come back here – some day.' Emotions threatening to overpower him, Naruto turned and left behind the place he had called home as fast as possible.

It took a surprisingly short amount of time for Naruto to reach the first town. He actually had no idea where he was, he assumed he was somewhere in Fire Country. Naruto decided he may as well look for an inn or hotel to stay at for the night and then start his return to Konoha tomorrow. Taking a side street Naruto was greeted with a strange sight.

A rather large man with white hair was seemingly looking through a hole in a fence, whilst writing on a piece of paper. 'What the…' Naruto then heard some splashing noises, followed by squealing and giggling. 'What is that guy doing?'

"Oi," Naruto called out, "what're you doing?"

The man turned around, seeing a boy wearing a large white trench coat looking curiously at him. "Shh, you're interrupting my research."

"Research?" Naruto responded. "It looks like you're spying on people."

"Look kid, I'll teach you something cool if you go away."

Naruto wasn't convinced. "Why would I want to learn how to make holes in fences?"

The man twitched at that. "You obviously have no idea who I am! I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the Frog Spirits!" Naruto had a blank expression. "I'm also known as the Frog Hermit, Jiraiya!"

'Jiraiya?' Naruto thought 'That name seems familiar for some reason'.

"I think you're a pervert." Naruto stated.

"You fool! I'm no ordinary pervert! I get inspiration to write better novels!"

"Right," Naruto said, "sure you do."

"Bah!" Jiraiya spat, "What would a weak little boy like you know!"

"Pfft," Naruto muttered, "I should kill him for calling me weak."

Jiraiya burst out laughing. "Like someone like you could ever kill! And to say you'll kill me, Jiraiya of the Sannin? You've got to be joking!"

'I remember now!' Naruto realized. 'Jiraiya was one of the Old Man's students!'

"I've done it before," Naruto stated, "who're you to say I can't?"

Jiraiya stopped laughing at that, slightly shocked. 'He's killed people before? Someone that young shouldn't have blood on their hands.'

Jiraiya gave his full attention to Naruto for the first time. "I find that hard to believe."

Naruto's eyes were downcast now, as the memories of his victims' deaths resurfaced.

"It's true, though." Naruto said. "The first time was hard, but it got easier." Jiraiya could see he was telling the truth.

"No, kid," Jiraiya looked solemn, "killing never gets easier, you just learn to handle it better."

Naruto nodded slowly, and, still lost in thought, spoke automatically. "I guess that's true. Last time, I was almost _proud_ I killed the guy." Jiraiya looked shocked at this, but Naruto continued. "I was happy I managed to pull off a new technique at the last second, it sort of numbed the pain I should have felt. Looking back, I don't feel so good about it."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding. "Humans are sociable creatures; killing each other is against our nature. When you stop feeling remorse for your victims you stop being human."

Naruto was still lost in his memories, nodding automatically before speaking. "My sensei said something like that. When I made my first kill, he praised me, telling me it is important not to hesitate, as each time you do the enemy has another chance to kill you, or their reinforcements come that much closer."

Naruto's bottom lip quivered slightly as bad memories flooded his conscious being.

**FLASHBACK**

"Naruto-kun, we have an assassination mission to do. You will kill him."

Naruto stiffened. It was a while before he answered. "Hai, Itachi-san."

Naruto and Itachi were both silent, not speaking until they reached their target. Itachi broke the silence. "Naruto-kun, do not hesitate. Every time you hesitate your enemy gets another chance to kill you, and their reinforcements get that much closer to you. Do not think, just act. Mourn later if necessary."

Naruto stared blankly. "Hai."

A lone man walked down the street towards them. He was their target. Naruto waited until the man passed before following. He came up behind his target and tapped him on the shoulder. The man turned. "Yes?"

Naruto stabbed him. He watched the emotions flash through the man's eyes. Surprise, shock and pain all registered on his face before the life faded from his eyes.

Naruto turned back to Itachi. "Good, Naruto-kun. Let us go."

Naruto managed to make it back to the clearing before breaking down, the weight of what he had done finally catching up to him. He did not think the tears would ever stop.

**END FLASHBACK**

Jiraiya stared Naruto silently, watching the emotions on his face change. 'Who is this kid? To have been through so much at such a young age…' "Hey, kid, what's your name?"

Naruto looked up, surprised; having seemly forgotten Jiraiya was there. "Uzumaki Naruto" he responded automatically. 'Ugh, I probably shouldn't have said that.'

'What! What is the Kyuubi vessel doing at the edges of Fire Country?'

"Where's your sensei, kid?" Jiraiya asked, wondering who'd get their student to kill someone as a lesson.

"We split up." Naruto stated. "He had wanted me to go back to Konoha and get stronger or find someone who could train me. We were out here training after he saved me from death in Konoha 3 years ago."

'Interesting' Thought Jiraiya. 'I guess it was the Third's idea to send him away to become stronger. About time the old man came to his senses. I guess I should Naruto help out, he might not be ready to go back yet. I told the Third leaving the Kyuubi vessel in the village wouldn't work, but did he listen? Of course not. Just wanted to follow Arashi's wishes.'

"Oi, Naruto, you said you'd invented a new technique on the spot to kill someone, what was it?" Jiraiya questioned. He was eager to know what this kid could do.

"Oh, it was the start of a new Taijutsu style sensei and I made up based off the Jyuken style of the Hyuuga." Jiraiya frowned at this.

"How is it based off Jyuken?" Jiraiya asked. "The Hyuuga are too secretive for people outside the clan to learn their style."

"Uhh," Naruto thought quickly, "sensei knew the stances, not sure how, but he taught them to me. You release chakra when you strike and it does random damage to the target, unlike Jyuken."

Jiraiya nodded, obviously thinking. "Listen Naruto, you should stop using that style." Naruto looked shocked and disappointed at this, which prompted Jiraiya to continue. "The Hyuuga are very powerful, and very secretive. If they knew this new variant existed they would have it destroyed, which means they would have you killed. They have the power and influence to see this done." Jiraiya warned.

"But what am I going to do against Taijutsu users if I can't match them?" Naruto asked, pouting.

Jiraiya was silent for a moment, stroking his chin in thought. "Tell you what, I'll teach you a jutsu that is effective against Taijutsu users that you can use until you find a new style, how does that sound?"

Naruto thought for a time before deciding. "Okay, I guess that will have to do."

Jiraiya smiled. "Alright! The technique I'm going to be teaching you is mostly defensive, but could also be considered offensive. It lengthens and hardens your hair, yes, that's right, your hair," Naruto had thrown Jiraiya an incredulous look, "and causes it to wrap around you in a defensive cloak. Your hair becomes razor sharp due to the chakra pulsating through it. The longer your hair, the more effective this technique will be."

Naruto still didn't look convinced. "I don't think hair can be that useful."

Jiraiya just grinned. "You'll see, kid, you'll see."

* * *

Story ends here------ 

Ugh, I think this chapter is terrible, but you reviewers are the ones who really know and will tell me, which I'm thankful for. I've attempted to explain various plot holes reviewers have pointed out (thanks, really). It sort of worked. Now, on to the votes (ugh, this is going to be annoying to count, there's more interest in this story than I thought possible).

Naruto/Sakura: 1

Naruto/Hinata: 12

Naruto/Ino: 2

Naruto/TenTen: 12

Naruto/Temari: 4

Naruto/Anko: 5

Naruto/Kurenai: 2

Naruto/Tsunade: 1

Naruto/Haku (Female): 11

Naruto/Kyuubi (Female): 4

**If you haven't voted yet, _please only vote for one pairing_. If you say something like "Naruto/XXX" or "Naruto/YYY" I will take the first option. **

**IF YOU WANT TO VOID YOUR PREVIOUS VOTE, PLEASE MENTION IT IN A REVIEW ALONG WITH YOUR NEW DESIRED PAIRING.  
**

Now, someone pointed out that this story is similar to one called "Height of my Capacity" (well, actually s/he outright accused me of stealing ideas, but yeah), but I find that hard to believe as I a) don't think I'm using stolen ideas and b) haven't read that story. Because of this I'm going to give a little history lesson.

"To Measure My Capacity" pretty much started when I had a random thought at 4am that went something along the lines of "hay d00ds wat if itachii trained naruko 2 killz0r him?". Now originally when I had this idea I was going to call it "One Night" which'd have some catch line like 'One night, two fates align. How does the future change when Itachi trains Naruto to be his measure?'. However, I searched Naruto section and there were already a bunch of stories called that, so I changed it to what it is now. Because a search of "To Measure My Capacity" brought up nothing I stuck with it.

I still haven't read "Height of my Capacity", but I did see the first chapter was called "To Measure My Capacity". Like I've said in previous chapters (at least I think I have) it'd be almost impossible to make an entirely original story. Coincidences are impossible to avoid.

If I was actually aware of the existance of "Height of my Capacity", this story would never have been started, as I would have just gone "Ugh, too similar to that one, no point writing it."

This is the main reason I haven't written any fanfiction before now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Naruto stood in the middle of a grassy field located on the outskirts of a smallish town. He was panting quite heavily, the strain of what ever he was trying to do evident on his face. Seemly giving up on whatever he was attempting, he collapsed backwards, his fall padded by the long grass.

"Stupid Ero-sennin," Naruto muttered under his breath for the hundredth time, gazing at the blue sky. He was thinking back to all the times he'd found himself in a similar situation to what he was in now – alone and getting nowhere. Jiraiya had left him alone almost every day for the past year to 'practice and master his current jutsu', while Jiraiya himself left on 'important missions'.

"Argh!" Naruto yelled in exasperation. "'Learn to use **Hari Jizo** without using hand seals' he tells me. Does he tell me how? No. Does he teach me anything new? No. Same damn thing every day! 'I've got a mission, practice your jutsu.'"

Naruto sighed. He knew for a fact that Jiraiya didn't go on any missions. Not long after Jiraiya had started leaving on his so-called 'missions', Naruto decided to follow him. As it turned out, 'I'm going on a mission' translates roughly to 'Gotta gather data for my perverted book'.

Sick of sitting around getting no where with his supposed training, Naruto decided to search for Jiraiya and make a few demands. He stood, stretched a little to loosen his muscles a bit, and proceeded to head to where he knew he'd find Jiraiya – the town's hot spring.

* * *

The streets of the town were bustling with activity when Naruto arrived. Various lunch bars were full with people hungry after their mornings work while others were hurrying about doing various chores and tasks that were required of their business or families. 

Naruto arrived at the entrance of the hot spring just in time to hear a large crash and see Jiraiya fly overhead. 'What the hell?' Thought Naruto, peering through the large hole in the fence Jiraiya's exit had produced.

What he saw was a large number of towel-covered females looking rather embarrassed while one, a young blonde woman with her hair tied back in two pony tails, looked ready to kill. "Goddamn pervert!" She screamed. "He actually had the balls to come _into _the baths? I'll kill him if it's the last thing I do!"

"Uhh, I don't think you should try that, lady." Naruto said.

The woman turned to see a youngish looking boy peering through the hole in the wall she had sent Jiraiya through just moments earlier. Her eyebrow twitched. "What the hell are you doing, brat? You shouldn't be looking in to the woman's baths like that! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"I didn't know my mother, so no." Naruto responded, before turning away from the scene to find out where Jiraiya landed.

He found the crater which held Jiraiya about 100 meters outside the town, near where he was 'training' earlier.

"Ne, Ero-sennin, teach me something useful."

"..." Jiraiya replied.

"Yeah, that sounds like you. Useless."

"You again, brat?" Naruto turned to see the woman with blonde hair from earlier approaching, this time not dressed in a towel.

"What're you doing here?" Naruto was actually surprised that the woman would try to follow through with her threat to kill Jiraiya, especially after Naruto's warning not to approach him.

"I just thought I'd teach my _friend_ here a lesson. He went too far this time."

Naruto made an incredulous face. "Ero-sennin actually has friends? Female friends?"

The woman laughed. "Nice nick name, brat. He's more my team mate than a friend."

Naruto thought about that. Jiraiya had told him about his team mates in the past. There were three of them all up – known as the Legendary Sannin, each with their own summon and claim to fame. There was Jiraiya, known for his perverted books and to a lesser extent known as the teacher of the Yondaime, Orochi-someone, who was a famed missing nin of Konoha, and Tsunade, praised as the best medical nin and worst gambler ever. So that would make the woman standing in front of him Tsunade.

"So you're Tsunade then, old lady?" Naruto questioned.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched with that comment. "Do I look old to you, kid?" She asked, her tone extremely menacing.

"No," Naruto responded calmly, "but you are old."

Tsunade sighed. "Whatever, kid. I have to have a little _talk_ with Jiraiya here for a minute." Her eyes held a small glint of madness at that.

She made her way into the crater and approached the prone form of Jiraiya. She proceeded to lift him off the ground by his long hair, looking intently into his face.

"So, Jiraiya," she growled, "what miserable excuse have you got ready for me this time?"

Jiraiya opened his eyes, which were filled with fear and apprehension, something Naruto had never seen before. They'd encountered various obstacles in their travels, but never once did Naruto see Jiraiya afraid or anything other than confidant.

"Ahh, Tsunade," Jiraiya gulped, "you see, I was sleeping on a tree branch when it broke and I fell into the hot springs and –"

Naruto snorted at Jiraiya's excuse. "More like you were 'gathering data' when the tree branch broke, you perverted old man."

'Damn' Jiraiya muttered in his mind 'He knew what happened exactly'.

"Who's the brat, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked, still holding Jiraiya up by the hair.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I'm sort of looking after him." Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that.

Tsunade frowned slightly. "So this is the-"

"Yes, he's my apprentice." Jiraiya cut in, sending Tsunade a guarded look. Naruto stopped his laughing, noticing the look and change of mood. He didn't know what it meant, but he intended to find out. Itachi had always said that information was the most powerful asset a ninja could have.

Tsunade let go of Jiraiya suddenly, letting him fall on his face. "I'll be seeing you soon, Jiraiya. You're lucky I let you off this time. I just remembered I have to be somewhere soon." Tsunade turned began walking back to the town, leaving Jiraiya and Naruto alone.

"Damn scary woman," Jiraiya muttered. "So," Jiraiya started, gathering himself up and walking out of the crater, "why are you here and not training?"

"Teach me something useful and new that will make me stronger." Naruto demanded, his eyes steeled, his posture showing that he would not take 'no' as an answer.

Jiraiya's face became thoughtful, looking off in to the distance with a slightly glazed look which could have been a result of his flight. "Naruto, have you ever felt that you have two different types of chakra?"

"Yes," Naruto replied, clearly thinking. "Sometimes when I was training pretty hard with Sensei I felt another type of chakra begin to start flooding my body. I guess if I had to explain it in colors, my usual chakra is blue while this one was red. I could never use it properly, though."

"I see." Jiraiya had a far away look on his face, before he turned to Naruto. "I'm going to teach you how to control that chakra, Naruto. If you can harness that power you will become very powerful."

"You're actually going to teach me something useful?" Nartuo asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowed. "And why do I have this other chakra anyway?"

"I'll tell you another day, for now I'll start teaching you this new jutsu to help you control that red chakra. You've probably heard of the technique, it's called **Kuchiyose no Jutsu.** It allows the user to summon animals or weapons by using a blood contract. It's a very useful jutsu, but it can require a huge amount of chakra, depending on what you're trying to summon. That is why it is useful to you – it will force you to use your other chakra."

Naruto nodded. "Show me the hand seals."

Jiraiya shook his head, partially because of the sudden change in Naruto's attitude, and partially because of his demand 'He sure takes his training seriously when it matters'. "You can't summon unless you sign a contract or have scrolls with the required seals. Here" Jiraiya took the large scroll he always carried around on his back off and handed it to Naruto "sign your name in blood on that. It's the summoning contract for toads."

Naruto did what was asked of him quickly. "Now show me the hand seals." Jiraiya did so, which Naruto practiced before saying "Okay, now show me the jutsu." Jiraiya quickly did the hand seals required before saying **Kuchiyose no Jutsu **and slamming his hand to the ground. There was a loud 'poof' noise and a lot of smoke, which cleared to show Jiraiya standing on top of a large red and yellow spotted toad dressed in battle armor.

"I see," Naruto said simply. Jiraiya jumped off his toad and dismissed it.

"You try now. Put as much chakra in to the jutsu as possible, without passing out. It will be the quickest way to deplete your chakra." Jiraiya advised.

Naruto nodded, going through the hand seals required slowly one more before continuing. He then did the required hand seals quickly before shouting **Kuchiyose no Jutsu **and slamming his hand to the ground. When the smoke cleared Naruto was sitting on an orange toad with blue spots, twice as large as Jiraiya's was. Even though Naruto was almost completely drained of chakra, Jiraiya was impressed. 'He has more chakra than I thought, and better control too. Maybe I should have given him more attention, he does have potential. Oh well, I can't change the past but I can help him in the future.'

"Very good, Naruto." Jiraiya praised. "You're pretty much out of chakra though, but we can work on increasing your chakra capacity later. Now, do you feel any of that red chakra in your system?"

Naruto dismissed his summon, falling to the ground. He landed on his feet before falling back and lying down. "No," Naruto panted, "I don't feel any different, only drained."

Jiraiya frowned. "I see." 'What causes Kyuubi's chakra to start affecting him if it's not chakra depletion?'

"Naruto, when did you say you started feeling that red chakra?"

"Uhh, usually when I was doing some intense sparring with Sensei." Naruto replied.

"I see," Jiraiya said, becoming thoughtful once more. 'It must only be in extreme situations, possibly life threatening situations that triggers Kyuubi's chakra to activate. Arashi must have designed the seal that way to protect Naruto.'

Naruto looked up to see Jiraiya approaching. "**Nehan Shoja no Jutsu**" Jiraiya said, quickly making 3 hand seals. "Wha-?" Naruto began, before seeing feathers fall around him. His eyes slowly drooped before Naruto gave in and fell asleep. "Sorry, kid," Jiraiya said, picking Naruto up and draping him over his shoulder, "but you'll thank me for this, one day." Jiraiya began to move further away from the town, to a place where he knew he could awaken Naruto's second chakra. 

"I really should teach him to dispel Genjutsu techniques." Jiraiya said to himself as he moved quickly through the forest.

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sensation of falling. 'What the…' Naruto looked around him to see rocks of all sizes flying past him at an alarming rate, while the holes roof which he had somehow fallen in to was getting smaller and smaller. Thinking quickly, Naruto tried to grab on to the rocks near him using what little chakra he had left. It wasn't working. 'Crap, I'm going to die at this rate'. His heart beating faster and faster, Naruto tried everything he could think of to grab on to the slippery rocks, but to no avail. 

Suddenly Naruto found himself in some strange sewer type complex of corridors. Having no idea what was going on, Naruto proceed to make his way to the strange red glow that was emitting from the largest pathway, seemingly drawing him towards it. He followed it and came across some rather large bars, red chakra seeping out from inside.

"What the hell?" Naruto exclaimed.

"**Hmm? What have we here?**" A loud, demonic voice asked. "**Oh, it's you. The damn child that annoying man sealed me in. What do you want?**"

Naruto looked up to see two huge, red, lusting eyes looking down at him. He did his best to hide his fear.

"So you're the source of that red chakra?" Naruto questioned, making sure to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"**Yes, that would be my chakra, the chakra of the great Kyuubi no Kitsune.**"

"Wait, wait," Naruto said, unable to hide his surprise. "The Kyuubi's dead, Yondaime killed him, sacrificing his own life in the process."

"**Ha! Like any mortal could kill me. He just imprisoned me in a container, which just happened to be you. How did you get here if you did not know of my existence, kit?**" Kyuubi asked, its booming voice echoing around the room.

"Uhh, I'm sort of falling to my death, I guess that's why I'm here. I'd say that if I die, you die, so how about you help out here?" Naruto wasn't about to sit there pondering whys and hows when he was falling to his death, he'd think about the nature of the Kyuubi when he wasn't seconds from death.

"**Oh, you're a brave one to be asking me for help! I like that attitude, kit. I'll help you out this time, but expect to hear from me soon.**"

With that, red chakra surrounded Naruto and he was sent crashing back to his own consciousness.

"This is the felling," Naruto muttered, feeling Kyuubi's chakra flooding his body. Drawing on it, trying to control it, Naruto quickly made hand seals.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted, throwing his hand out below him. Through the smoke a large shape emerged, with soft skin that Naruto roughly landed on. "Safe," Naruto sighed, before passing out.

"**Jiraiya!**" Gamabunta screamed. "**Why have you summoned me in this place? Jiraiya!**"

* * *

When Naruto woke once more, he was laying on a comfortable bed in what seemed to be an inn. Turning his head to the side, he saw Jiraiya leaning against a wall, looking upon Naruto. Seeing him brought back all the memories of the time before he passed out - the fall, the Kyuubi, the summoning. 

"Why?" Naruto asked, his voice hoarse. "Why didn't you tell me?" Tears threatened to overcome Naruto as he continued. "Why didn't someone tell me? Why didn't anyone tell me? Why did everyone know but me? It all makes sense now – their hate." Naruto choked. "That's why they wanted me dead, why they always called me a demon. Why was I never told?"

Naruto began sobbing. After a few minutes Jiraiya finally spoke. "It was Yondaime's wish for you to be seen as a hero, but most only saw you as the Kyuubi reborn. Sandaime passed a law that forbade anyone of speaking about the Kyuubi and your involvement. He knew he couldn't change the views of those who knew, so he made sure the children didn't know – to give you a chance at a normal life."

"That didn't work," Naruto said bitterly, his sobbing lessening slightly. "The children all hated me anyway. Their parents never let me play with them, always telling their children to stay away from me."

Naruto looked to Jiraiya, "Did Yondaime really want me to be seen as a hero?"

Jiraiya nodded and smiled. "Yes, that was his dying wish. It is the village's fault it didn't come true."

Naruto's depression seemed to ease slightly. "Then I'll make it come true." He looked to Jiraiya with determination in his eyes. "I'll make them see that I'm a hero. I'll gain their respect and prove to them I'm not a demon. I'll become Hokage!"

Jiraiya's sad smile widened at Naruto's words. "That's good to hear, Naruto. I tell you what, I'll put my book on hold for a while and spend more time training you, how does that sound?"

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, his depression disappearing at the thought of becoming stronger. "When can we start?"

"Tomorrow. We'll practice mastering your current jutsu."

Naruto frowned. "I want to learn more, not practice my current ones."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Knowing many jutsu does not make you a good ninja. You can know over 1000 jutsu, but if you know 5 really well, you won't need to use the rest. The famous shinobu Hatake Kakashi is one who has copied over 1000 jutsu with his Sharingan, but what's the point if he only uses 10?"

"Hatake? Why does he have the Sharingan?" Naruto asked. "Only Uchiha are born with it, and they were wiped out."

Jiraiya was surprised Naruto new about the Sharingan and the Uchiha massacre, but he supposed that his previous sensei had told him about it.

"Kakashi had the Sharingan given to him as a gift by his dying comrade. It was the focus of many disputes between himself and the Uchiha for quite a time – while they were around. Anyway, we'll start your training tomorrow. I've even thought of a way for you to continue using that Taijutsu style of yours."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, all you need to do is avoid using it around Hyuuga. Simple isn't it?"

"That's not a very good way. But it doesn't matter, I've been practicing it anyway, I just said I'd drop it so you'd teach me." Jiraiya was shocked. 'That manipulative little… argh! I should've figured he wouldn't give up such a powerful style so easily.'

"I see… well, get some sleep Naruto. We'll start early."

"Hai, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya twitched.

* * *

Story ends here----- 

Sorry about taking so long to update. I was busy with friends and had a small case of writer's block. I blame that if the chapter isn't very good. Now, on to pairings.

This will probably be the last opportunity to vote for the current pairings. The way it looks right now I might> start a rivalry type voting thing between the top two or three pairings.

Naruto/Sakura: 1

Naruto/Hinata: 20

Naruto/Ino: 2

Naruto/TenTen: 25

Naruto/Temari: 4

Naruto/Anko: 5

Naruto/Kurenai: 3

Naruto/Tsunade: 1

Naruto/Haku (Female): 16

Naruto/Kyuubi (Female): 4

**If you haven't voted yet, _please only vote for one pairing_. If you say something like "Naruto/XXX or Naruto/YYY" I will take the first option (Naruto/XXX).**

**IF YOU WANT TO VOID YOUR PREVIOUS VOTE, PLEASE MENTION IT IN A REVIEW ALONG WITH YOUR NEW DESIRED PAIRING.**

I guess that's all for now.

Thanks to all you reviewers, you're pretty much what keeps the story going. I'm not really writing it for myself (well I kind of am, I can't sleep very well, new ideas seem to keep me awake).

**Jutsu List**

**Hari Jizo **(Spiked Buddha) ((I'm sure this is wrong, but that's what wikipedia has it listed as, so that's what I'm using. If someone wants to tell me the actual name and translation for the hair jutsu Jiraiya uses, I'll edit and start using it))

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu **(Summoning Technique)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**

* * *

Chapter 5**

The morning sun's rays found Jiraiya and Naruto up early. They walked out of the inn they stayed at clean, refreshed, and ready for what Naruto assumed to be a day's tough training which he hoped would be both physically and mentally exhausting. Two hours later, however, Naruto was only mentally exhausted and extremely frustrated.

"Tell me how this is supposed to be done," Naruto growled. He'd done everything he could possibly think of, but it still wasn't working.

Jiraiya once again repeated his explanation. "Contrary to popular belief, shinobi do not need hand seals to use jutsu. What hand seals do is force the chakra in your body to move in certain ways, allowing you to perform jutsu when the chakra is released. However, you can also control your chakra mentally. Very few people know this is possible, and even fewer know how to utilize the knowledge." Jiraiya responded, wondering what part of his explanation Naruto couldn't grasp.

"I know all that! I want you to tell me what to do. You left me to teach myself how to do it for a year and I didn't figure it out, what makes you think I would now?"

"Damn kid, you should be thankful I even told you it was possible!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"The ability to use jutsu without hand seals is incredibly powerful. Think of the advantages you have in battle when your opponent is unable to predict what jutsu you'll use next."

"I know it would be useful!" Naruto argued. "The problem is you haven't told me how to do it! Tell me _how _to do it."

Jiraiya sighed. He really wanted Naruto to learn how to do it on his own. 'If he doesn't know the rules, he can push and break them; twist them to his own will. If you don't know what is believed to be impossible, you can make things possible'. Obviously Jiraiya's thinking wasn't working with Naruto as well as Jiraiya had hoped.

"Fine," Jiraiya said, finally giving in. "Naruto, when you make a hand seal you're manipulating your chakra in such a way that allows you to release it to produce impressive feats. What you need to do to master this ability is to manipulate your chakra using your mind, mimicking the same movement of chakra hand seals create. Of course, the more hand seals the jutsu requires, the harder it will become to use without hand seals. It will probably be easier to work our way up from the bottom. So, what's the easiest jutsu you know?"

"Uhh, probably the basic ones. You know, **Henge no Jutsu**, that kind of thing." Naruto replied.

"Bah!" Jiraiya dismissed the option with a wave of his hand. "Something that's a little tougher than that."

"Err, how about **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**?"

'He knows that?' Jiraiya thought. 'I really didn't pay enough attention to him. I wonder what this kid's really capable of'. Jiraiya nodded. "That should work well."

Jiraiya came closer to Naruto, making a familiar cross-shaped hand seal. "Okay, Naruto. What you need to do is make the hand seal and focus on what happens to your chakra. It's very hard to do, and requires a large amount of concentration and practice. I don't expect you to figure out how this particular hand seal works for a month at least.'

Naruto frowned. "Don't you think it'd be a waste of time just trying to do this one thing for a couple of months?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, which is why you're going to be doing this while walking on water. That's the main reason it's going to take so long, you're going to have to subconsciously control the chakra in your feet at the same time."

"Why bother with that?" Naruto questioned. It seem to be a waste of time more than anything, he already knew how to walk on water.

"Builds chakra capacity and control. I told you we'd working on building your chakra supplies up yesterday when you tried summoning. Also, if you ever find yourself in a fight on water you'll automatically start walking on water."

"I guess that would help make me stronger. Can we get started now?"

"Sure," Jiraiya said. "There's a river leading to a waterfall around here somewhere. You can practice on that. Flowing water is harder to stand on than calm water, and the water of a river is fastest near a waterfall"

'It's also a popular swimming spot' Jiraiya thought, a perverted grin forming on his face.

"Lead the way," Naruto said, arms crossed, frowning, and looking at Jiraiya's perverted grin. 'I bet that water training thing was just an after thought, damn Ero-sennin'.

* * *

Naruto's brow was creased in concentration, his eyes closed, his hands forming a cross shaped seal. He was completely still, only his clothes and hair wavering in the slight breeze, despite the rushing water flowing beneath his feet. He had been in this position for over an hour, and had been in a similar situation to his current one every day for the past three weeks. 

Naruto was focusing as much as he could on the chakra in his body and how it was moving, trying to find out exactly how he was meant to tell it mentally to move in the same way. 'I always loose focus right there, why can I never tell what happens at that point?' Mentally frowning, Naruto tried once again to figure out why he lost focus at that one particular tenketsu. Jiraiya had told him in detail about the chakra circulation system in an effort to help Naruto with his training.

'Need to concentrate on that point as much as possible, I can't loose my focus again!' Once again Naruto's consciousness observed his chakra, his entire being willing him to figure out what was going on.

Suddenly, Naruto found himself in a familiar place. Floor covered with water, large bars with a paper seal, red chakra seeping out between them.

"**You again, what do you want this time?**" Kyuubi asked, its voice booming and echoing around the cage and adjoined room.

Naruto looked up to the huge demonic eyes of the fox, not quite as intimidated as he was last time. "I didn't really mean to come here. I was trying to master this new technique, but ended up here."

"**Oh? You must have been trying pretty hard to end up here.**"

"Yeah, well, there's this one tenketsu that's messing everything up."

"**Is that all? Let me guess, it's the one closest to the seal on your stomach.**"

"Uhh, yeah, that's it. How did you know that?" Naruto asked.

"**You actually have two chakra systems**," Kyuubi stated. "**That tenketsu is what joins them and blocks off from each other, as well as this seal. I can push small amounts chakra through that tenketsu to mingle with your chakra, but only if you will it – that's a measure this seal has in place, it's completely controlled by your will."**

"How do you know that?" Naruto questioned. He was pretty clueless as to how his seal worked, but was willing to learn about it.

"**Ha! I've been stuck in this place for 10 years. I've had to do something to keep myself entertained. So I've learnt this sealing system inside out. I have to give some credit to the guy who made it, it's brilliant. I cannot do anything at all without your consent in one form or another, whether it be your desire for more power or will not to die.**"

"I see. So you can't really do anything without me wanting it, right?" Naruto was starting to think this relationship could prove pretty useful.

"**That about sums it up, yes.**" Kyuubi responded in a rather disdained voice.

"Can you do anything about that tenketsu?" Naruto questioned. He wanted to know how much power Kyuubi could potentially have over his body if he let it.

"**I could make it so the two systems weren't completely blocked off all the time. It would mean you could use that tenketsu properly. It would probably help your chakra control, too, as that slight blockage in the system would be cleared.**"

"Wouldn't that mean your chakra would be in me?" Naruto asked cautiously. "Wouldn't I turn in to a demon or something?"

"**I'm not too sure about the side effects. It would mean my chakra would seep over slightly, but I doubt that would have many effects. Your regenerative ability might be heightened slightly, maybe your senses too, but I doubt that.**"

"How do I know you're telling the truth? Why are you helping me, anyway?" Naruto asked suspiciously. He could have sworn the fox inside the cage grinned.

"**You can't know if I'm telling the truth. I guess it'd be a gamble on your part. You humans seem to like gambling though – the chance to improve yourself for nothing is too appealing to your worthless existence.**" Kyuubi actually licked its jowls with its long tongue .

Naruto made a face. "That wasn't exactly what I expected to hear, and it didn't tell me why you're helping me."

"**Mostly because I'm bored. You're the first being I've socialized with in quite a while, even if you are my prison guard. Besides, it wouldn't look good for me if I had a weak vessel.**"

A battle was now raging inside Naruto's mind's mind. 'Can I trust Kyuubi? Its explanations seem right, but it's a demon! It would have thousands of years of experience manipulating beings to its advantage.' It was entirely possibly Naruto was being manipulated, but if what the fox had said was true then there really was nothing it could do without Naruto's permission. 'But then again, the Yondaime wouldn't have made a seal that would allow it to escape under any situation, and the fox's reasons are so stupid they have to be true. And the advantages to me are priceless if this works…'

"Alright," Naruto said, his decision made. "I allow you to open that tenketsu, permanently." 'Oh man am I screwed if this gamble doesn't work in my favour'.

* * *

Naruto suddenly found himself back in his own, physical body, still standing on water. He didn't feel any different, so he took that as a good sign that everything had worked how it should have, and most importantly, he was not possessed by a nine-tailed fox. 

"I see what Ero-sennin meant about water walking becoming completely subconscious." Naruto muttered. "I wonder how long I was out for." He looked to the sky, and the sun was starting to fall in the sky. 'Guess it's late afternoon sometime. Got an hour or so before I need to fetch Ero-sennin from his "resting spot". Who rests with binoculars?'.

Naruto made his familiar hand seal. Turning his attention to his insides Naruto found it much easier to map how the chakra moved. 'I guess it really did work' Naruto thought. 'I see how it works entirely now!' It was the first time he'd been excited about his training in quite a while.

He spent several more minutes going over what he needed to force his chakra to do before finally steeling himself. He walked to the river bank, left his hands hanging by his sides, and focused inwards. He mentally willed his chakra to move a certain way – the way he had been mapping for the past 3 weeks. Naruto was surprised it moved the way he wanted it to.

When he got it where he wanted it he muttered "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**". A single, retarded clone appeared beside him. Naruto sweat dropped when he saw it. "I was trying to make 5, guess I did something wrong."

Naruto practiced for another hour before moving off to find Jiraiya. He found him perched on a tree branch overlooking the waterfall, peering through binoculars and busily scribbling something down on his scroll.

"Ne, Ero-sennin, I got this technique." Naruto shouted up to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya looked down at Naruto. "Show me, Naruto." Naruto was silent for a few seconds, his eyes closed. When he opened them three perfect clones appeared beside him.

Jiraiya was rather impressed, mostly for the fact he'd gotten the hang of it in just 3 weeks. "Good Naruto. It's not mastered yet though. Keep practicing until you can do it as well as you could with hand seals. You can't pull that concentrating act in the middle of a battle, either. Get quicker. Once you've done that we can work on **Hari Jizo **and that Taijutsu style of yours. I'll get you some weights to increase your strength and speed."

"Hai, Ero-sennin. We should head back now." Naruto said.

"Now, now, give me another hour," Jiraiya said, his gaze once again amplified by binoculars. "Go train a little more. The sooner you master that the sooner we move on to other things."

Naruto turned his back on Jiraiya and began walking back up stream. 'Goddamn pervert' '**Goddamn pervert**.'

"What the hell!" Naruto exclaimed, looking around for the voice he had heard.

'**Calm down kit, it's just me, your friendly neighborhood Kyuubi.'**

"What are you doing in my head!" Naruto questioned, now noticing a presence in his mind.

'**You don't have to speak out loud you know, you can just think. People will start looking at you funny if you keep having outbursts like that. As to why I'm here, it seems changing the tenketsu like that allowed me to speak to you like this.'**

'Uhh, right. What're you doing then?' Naruto wasn't exactly thrilled at having a demon speaking to him in his head, but he didn't really loath the idea either.

'**I just thought I'd see what you were up to. You should kill that sensei of yours. All perverts need to die. They're a scourge on this world.'**

_That's pretty rich, coming from a demon who has no doubt murdered thousands. _Naruto thought. 'Why would you care if he's a pervert or not?'

'**Any self-respecting female should be actively searching out and destroying the perverts of the world.' **Kyuubi said seriously.

'Wait… female? You're a female?' Naruto asked, utterly shocked.

'**What? You couldn't tell from my voice?'**

'What the… of course not! How could anyone think such an evil and demonic voice to be female!'

'**Ow. That hurt. I always thought my voice was quite sexy.'**

'"Sexy!" Evil? Sure. Demonic? Definitely. Sinister. No doubt. But sexy? No.'

'**Aww,' **Naruto could have sworn Kyuubi was pouting. **'You're not nice. I think I'll go back to my cage now. You probably shouldn't tell anyone about me, though.'**

With that, the presence in Naruto's mind vanished.

'Random' was Naruto's only thought as he made his way out on to the water.

* * *

"Good Naruto," Jiraiya said. Naruto was standing in front of him, his sharp, pointly hair retreating to its original length and softness, which was just as long as Jiraiya's now, although his bangs were short and held up by his black head band. 

"Well, you seem to have that mastered." Jiraiya praised. "I've taught you as much as I had intended to right now. It may not seem like much for the three year's you've been with me, but the skills you did learn will be infinitely useful for the rest of your life."

Naruto nodded. He knew now, looking back, that his three years with Jiraiya weren't wasted. He had learnt several valuable skills and had learnt to control Kyuubi's powers to some extent thanks to Jiraiya's unconventional teaching.

"Now, there's one area in which you're lacking. Genjutsu. It's probably my worst area as well. Because of this I want to take you to Konoha. They have quite a powerful Genjutsu user there, and I hear she's quite the looker." A perverted grin came across Jiraiya's face at the thought.

"Now, you don't have to stay in Konoha if you don't want to, but you need the training." Jiraiya said in response to Naruto's frown.

Naruto's face became determined. "Let's go."

"We'll leave tomorrow." Jiraiya said.

Naruto nodded, thinking about what would happen when he returned to the village which hated him for that damn fox sealed in his stomach.

'**Hey! I'm not that bad!' **Kyuubi pouted.

'Pfft.'

* * *

Story ends here----- 

Well, here's another chapter, released quite a bit faster than the previous. I didn't plan this chapter, either, but I figured I had better give more Kyuubi interaction before they went to Konoha, so I had to work the training in around that to give a vaguely viable excuse to meet Kyuubi/establish that mind link. I'm not entirely sure how people are going to react to the way Kyuubi acts, I may have to make up a backstory for her attitude (you do not want to know how often I've had to fill in plot holes like that / ). It also gives you one last chance to vote for pairings (this time it really should be the last time you can vote on this current poll). Not really too sure how I feel about this chapter, here's hoping it's not bad. Now, on to your favourite part of the story: the paring votes! (well, hopefully you're not just reading this for the votes... ahh well)

Naruto/Sakura: 3

Naruto/Hinata: 32

Naruto/Ino: 2

Naruto/TenTen: 46

Naruto/Temari: 7

Naruto/Anko: 5

Naruto/Kurenai: 3

Naruto/Tsunade: 2

Naruto/Haku (Female): 24

Naruto/Kyuubi (Female): 4

**If you haven't voted yet, _please only vote for one pairing_. If you say something like "Naruto/XXX or Naruto/YYY" I will take the first option (Naruto/XXX).**

**IF YOU WANT TO VOID YOUR PREVIOUS VOTE, PLEASE MENTION IT IN A REVIEW ALONG WITH YOUR NEW DESIRED PAIRING.**

That took quite a while to count. I'm still amazed at how much attention this story gets. Thanks for all your reviews.

Also, there's a link to my FF forum in my profile if anyone wants to ask or discuss anything.

**Jutsu List**

Nehan Shoja no Jutsu (Temple of Nirvana Technique) ((Forgot to put this in last chapter. It's the jutsu used to put everyone to sleep at the Chuunin exams for anyone confused (((I think))). 

I believe that's all for now, but knowing me I've forgotten something. Oh well, until next time.

Oh yeah. Someone asked me to email them some responses. I found that quite hard as they didn't leave their email address.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure

**

* * *

Chapter 6**

The sun was setting when Naruto and Jiraiya approached the 'hidden' village of Konoha. It seemed peaceful to Naruto as he gazed upon it from a distance. It wasn't something you'd expect from a village full of shinobi. It looked almost serene, bathed in golden sunlight. Long shadows were being cast by the high walls, seemingly stretching out to embrace Naruto, as if to say "welcome home".

'Yeah right' thought Naruto, 'more like "welcome back to where everybody wants you dead"'.

"**Aww**," came Kyuubi's voice, impending on Naruto's thoughts, "**a bit on the cynical side, aren't we, Naruto-kun?**"

'I have reason to be' Naruto snapped back mentally, his eyes cold, his mouth turned downwards in a frown hidden by his high collar. 'You're the reason I've been through what I have, incase you had forgotten that small fact.'

'**Poor Naruto-kun**,' Kyuubi said in a rather mocking voice. '**He's been through so much, but still he battles on with unwavering determination. How does he do it?**'

'Ahh, shut up. What would a stupid fox like you know?' Naruto ignored Kyuubi's retort, physically shaking his head in an attempt to clear his head of Kyuubi's presence. _'This time' _Naruto thought privately _'I'll prove to them I'm not who they think I am. I'll prove I'm not th-._'

"Ready, Naruto?" Jiraiya's voice sounded, interrupting Naruto's silent vow. Jiraiya could tell Naruto was frowning behind his clothing. Three years with the kid had allowed Jiraiya to read his moods quite well, although there was still a lot Jiraiya didn't know about him. Naruto never seemed to give as much information as he could, and that was always an obstacle Jiraiya had never managed to overcome.

"Don't worry, I doubt they'll recognize you now, Naruto." Jiraiya encouraged. "Just be careful and nothing's going to happen like it did last time. Besides" Jiraiya turned to grin at Naruto, "you're with me, the great Jiraiya-sama!" Jiraiya threw a couple of 'thumps up' in an attempt to break Naruto out of his brooding mood.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not worried about being attacked again. I can defend myself well enough now. I was just wondering what it would take for them to see me for who I am, and see me as the stupid fox inside me."

'**I'm not stupid!**' Naruto ignored her once again.

Jiraiya's face became serious. "It would probably take quite a lot. Anyway," Jiraiya continued, his expression becoming energetic, "let's concentrate on settling in for now, all that can be dealt with later. I need to find a nice hotel near some hot springs and-"

"Let's get going," Naruto interrupted, making his way towards the high walls of Konoha, his posture showing nothing but confidence.

"Damn brat," Jiraiya muttered, slowly following after the mixture of white and yellow that was the back of Naruto.

* * *

Two Konoha chuunin came to attention quickly as two figures approached the gates. The closest was a boy whose body was entirely covered in an oversized white trench coat, while his eyes were mostly hidden by his long hair. The second was an oldish man who had long white hair, strange red tear marks on his face and an insanely large scroll on his back. 

'Is that _Jiraiya-sama_?' Both chuunin thought at the same time. They were so surprised they failed to notice someone walking by them.

The boy had walked past the two without looking at them and was a good 5 meters away before the chuunin remembered their job and what they were supposed to do with unknown travelers.

"Uhh, excuse me young man, but we need to see some identification."

Naruto stopped and looked back at the two chuunin, who seemed to be brothers judging from their appearance. "I don't have any." Naruto said simply, staring blankly over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid we can't let you in to the village, then." The taller of the two said, while both tensed and lowered their hands to their weapons pouches.

"No need for that," Jiraiya said, coming up behind the two chuunin, "he's with me, and we know the great Jiraiya doesn't need identification, right?" Jiraiya gave the two chuunin a thumbs up and a wink.

"N-no, of course not, Jiraiya-sama!" The shorter chunnin managed, while thinking 'Is this really _the_ Jiraiya?' "However, I'm afraid I'll have to escort you to the Hokage to verify your identities."

Jiraiya nodded. "Of course. I needed to see old Sarutobi anyway." He turned to Naruto. "You okay with that?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess." He said simply. The old man was really the only person Naruto thought was worth seeing in this village. No one but the Hokage had ever shown Naruto anything that resembled respect in the past in this village.

"Alright," Jiraiya said, turning back to the two chuunin, "lead the way."

Jiraiya and Naruto fell in behind the shorter brother as he led them through the village to the Hokage's office.

The villagers barely gave the trio a glance as they made their way through the evening crowds, which contrasted greatly to the murderous stares Naruto used to receive. A few seemed to double take when they saw Jiraiya, but other than that they were largely ignored.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder at the indifference the people of Konoha towards him – when they didn't recognize him. 'Is this what it would be like if I didn't have Kyuubi sealed in me? Is this what it's like to feel as though your reason for existence isn't to endure the hatred of the villagers?'

The entirety of the trip was made in silence, each member of the group lost in their own thoughts. Jiraiya was thinking about the best hotel to stay at, which was obviously the closest to the hot spring, while the chuunin was debating whether or not this strange man was really was the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya, as he hadn't been seen in the village for at least 10 years. It looked like him from the descriptions he'd heard, but he certainly didn't act like someone with such legendary power.

When they arrived at the Hokage building they were told sit and wait for the Hokage's permission to enter. "Bah!" Jiraiya muttered. "Who'd of thought I'd get such treatment in the village I'm famous in? I can't even see my old sensei when I want to! Me, the great Jiraiya!" Naruto just sweat dropped, leaning himself against a wall.

'Sometimes, even though I've been with him for 3 years, I doubt he's who he says he is as well' Naruto thought, thinking back to all the times Jiraiya introduced himself and how stupid it made him look.

The chuunin returned a minute later. "The Hokage would like to see you now. Please follow me."

"About time," Jiraiya said as he got up and followed the chuunin. Naruto slowly pushed himself away from the wall and followed Jiraiya's long hair through the corridors to the Hokage's office.

Naruto and Jiraiya were led to two huge wooden double doors which the chuunin opened and beckoned them through, before closing the doors behind them.

When they entered they saw an old man wearing an overly large hat seated behind a desk piled high with paper work. The Hokage looked up as the two entered, a smile briefly gracing his aging face as he saw Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya!" The Hokage exclaimed as he stood, paperwork knocked to the floor in the process. "I could hardly believe my ears when I was told you were in the village." The Hokage made his way around the desk to clasp Jiraiya's hands in his own. "How long has it been? Are you ready to take my job yet?"

Jiraiya smiled down at his old sensei. "It's probably been too long Sarutobi, and no, I wont take your job. However," Jiraiya leaned in closer to whisper gleefully in the Hokage's ear, "once I get this kid off my hands, I should have my next novel out in a few weeks." At that both the Hokage and Jiraiya broke out in to perverted laughter.

"Perverted old men," Naruto muttered, shaking his head.

"**I cannot believe that the leader of this village is as perverted as your sensei.**" Naruto mentally agreed with Kyuubi.

The Hokage stopped his chucklinhg when he heard Naruto speak. Turning towards Naruto for the first time he looked him up and down before speaking to Jiraiya.

"And who's this?" He questioned Jiraiya. "I find it hard to believe you would take on another apprentice."

"Uzumaki Naruto. I've been training him for the past 3 years."

"What!" The Hokage exclaimed, shocked. He looked Naruto over again before turning back to Jiraiya. "Is he stable? Is it still sealed? How did you find him?"

"I'm standing right here, you know." Naruto pointed out. "You could just ask me."

The Hokage coughed and straightened his robes. "Yes, well. How are you Naruto? I haven't seen you in a good 6 years. What have you been doing?"

"I've been training. I trained for 3 years with Sensei, and then trained 3 years with Ero-sennin."

"Sensei?" The Hokage wondered, turning to Jiraiya. "Who was his sensei?"

"I thought you would know." Jiraiya said, puzzeled. "Naruto never told me. I thought you sent him away from the village with this sensei of his to save him from the villagers' hate."

"What! I never sent him anywhere. Naruto was kidnapped from the village by Uchiha Itachi on the same night he massacred the Uchiha clan!"

"More like Itachi-sensei saved me from certain death," Naruto scoffed.

"_He _was your sensei?" Jiraiya asked Naruto, his eyes wide. Naruto nodded. "And you never told me."

Naruto shrugged. "You never asked the right questions."

"You seem to be quite secretive, Naruto." The Hokage said. "How can we trust you in this village?"

Naruto shrugged again. "Ero-sennin trusts me, I think. That should be enough."

"Is this true, Jiraiya? You don't seem to know as much about Naruto as you thought."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Everyone has their secrets, Sarutobi. Naruto's intentions are pure, and I trust him for those, if nothing else."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, and what are his intentions?"

"I'm going to take your job, old man." Naruto stated. "I'll prove to everyone I'm not the Kyuubi. I'll make them see me for who I am, and not for who they think I am."

The Hokage smiled mentally. 'An amazing ambition for him to have, considering the life he has lived.' "Very well," he said aloud. "I'll trust you with this, Jiraiya. You two can stay in the village for now. What were your reasons for coming to the village?"

"We were hoping to get some Genjutsu training from your specialist." Jiraiya stated. "It's not my strongest point, as you know."

The Hokage became thoughtful, and began pacing in front of Jiraiya and Naruto before finally returning to his seat behind his desk. He was silent for a moment before leaning forward and speaking. "You may not know this, but the Genin exams were held today. For the first time in several years we have an uneven number of students that have passed. Because of this, we are one graduate short of making complete teams. Would you be willing to fill the spot, Naruto? It would be a way to prove yourself to everyone."

"I don't know, I've never thought about it." Naruto said. The idea of coming back to the village that hated him and becoming one of their shinobi had never crossed Naruto's mind. He had always just wanted to become stronger, so he had the strength to prove himself when the time came.

Jiraiya had been rubbing his chin in thought during the Hokage's speech. "I think it's a good idea," Jiraiya began. "It would be easier to ask for Genjutsu training when you're Konoha shinobi. It's also the first step to becoming Hokage."

"I guess I could do it," Naruto said, shrugging. "Genin teams get assigned a Jounin teacher, right?" Both the Hokage and Jiraiya nodded at that. "I should be able to learn something from a Jounin that will make me stronger, then?"

"Yes," the Hokage nodded, "and you will no doubt learn something from your Jounin sensei, as he is a master of over 1000 jutsu."

"Who will my team mates be?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage moved papers around on his desk before finding the paper he was after. Looking down he read off the paper. "Rookie of the year, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyuuga Hinata."

"An Uchiha and a Hyuuga on the same team?" Jiraiya asked. "I thought you were trying to keep the teams as balanced as possible, Sarutobi. If you put Naruto on a team like that they will be much more powerful than their peers."

The Hokage shook his head and sighed. "The Hyuuga actually has the worst scores out of all the graduates, and the first and last place getters are always placed on the same team. I thought about changing the teams around, but they're all perfectly balanced; only this team has a problem."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Whatever. It's Naruto's choice, not mine."

Naruto nodded. "I'm fine with those teams. It should be interesting to see how Itachi's brother is doing."

"Ahh, about that Naruto." The Hokage brought his gaze up and looked intently into Naruto's eyes. "Do not mention Itachi around Sasuke. He seems to be intent on killing Itachi, but he's only going to get himself killed. We can't have anything provoking him to do something stupid. Watch what you do and say around him."

Naruto nodded. He had already promised Itachi that he wouldn't mention him to his brother, and he had no intention of breaking that promise.

The Hokage smiled. "Good. However, you need to pass a test to become a Genin of Konoha. I believe this year's test was to create three perfect bunshin. If you can do that, Naruto, I'll award you a Konoha forehead protector and you will be considered a shinobi of Konoha."

Naruto shrugged. There was a loud popping noise and the room was filled with smoke. When it cleared, there were four perfect looking copies of Naruto looking at the Hokage.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Did you teach him **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**, Jiraiya?"

"No, he already knew it. I taught him to master it, though."

"So I see." The Hokage smiled at Naruto. "You pass. You are now an honorable member of Konoha's shinobi." The Hokage opened a drawer on his desk and produced a Konoha forehead protector which he handed to Naruto. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, I guess." Inside Naruto was feeling pretty happy. With this, he could start gaining the respect of the village, without fear of any retaliation.

"Your apartment is still yours, Naruto. The key should be in the same place." The Hokage said. "Just turn up at the Academy tomorrow morning at 9am and you'll meet your team."

"Right. I'll see you old men later, then." Naruto said as he turned and left the room, intent on settling back in to his apartment and getting some sleep.

"How strong is he?" The Hokage asked Jiraiya once Naruto was gone.

"I'm not entirely sure. He's mastered **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **and** Hari Jizo**, and he can summon Gamabunta." The Hokage was visibly shocked at that.

"How is that possible?" He asked.

"He can use the Kyuubi's power to some extent." Jiraiya stated.

"What! Is he stable when he does it?"

"As far as I know, yes." Jiraiya shook his head. "But there's so much about him I don't know. I'm sure he can use some Katon jutsu, but I've never actually seen him do it. He's also got a powerful Taijutsu style, but I haven't seen it being used in an actual fight. Apparently he killed someone with it the first time he used it."

The Hokage frowned. "And with all the unknowns surrounding him you still trust him?"

"Yeah. It's just the way Itachi trained him, I guess. His attitude makes more sense now that I know it was Itachi that trained him. Anyway," Jiraiya said, turning towards the door, "I've got some things to catch up on now that Naruto's off my hands. You'll get the first copy of my book when it's done. Later."

The door opened and closed. The Hokage continued to stare at the spot where Jiraiya had stood for a time. Finally he stood and looked out the window to the village he had come to reside over.

"You will certainly make things interesting around here, Naruto." The Hokage said, lighting his pipe. He took a few long puffs before turning around and groaning.

'I hate you, paperwork.'

* * *

Story ends here----- 

Well, that took an unreasonably long time to write. My bad.

**Now, I have a new poll I would like people to vote/comment on.**

1) Continue the current poll with Naruto having little romantic involvement with anyone until later in the story.

2) Stop the poll now and use the pairing that is currently in the lead. **(Naruto/Tenten)**

3) Start a new poll with the top three pairings and write the story with Naruto being close to all three so he can potentially end up with any. **(Naruto/Tenten, Naruto/Hinata, Naruto/Haku (Female))**

**And now for the results of the current poll:**

Naruto/Sakura: 6

Naruto/Hinata: 46

Naruto/Ino: 2

Naruto/TenTen: 56

Naruto/Temari: 8

Naruto/Anko: 8

Naruto/Kurenai: 9

Naruto/Tsunade: 2

Naruto/Haku (Female): 29

Naruto/Kyuubi (Female): 7

Thanks for the reviews. Hopefully the next chapter will be out much sooner. 

One again, there's a link to my forum in my author profile if you have any questions.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**

* * *

Chapter 7**

As the door to the Hokage's office shut silently behind him, Naruto let out a sigh. His return to Konoha didn't go as he thought it would, not that he really expected much. He thought the Hokage would, at least, be relieved that Naruto was back and safe. He did not think the Hokage would be so suspicious of him.

'I guess it makes sense,' Naruto thought to himself as he turned and made his way down the corridor. 'I've been away for 6 years, and left with an S-ranked missing nin. He's the Hokage of Konoha, he should be suspicious of any ninja that has been away from the village for any length of time, especially one that left with Uchiha Itachi.'

'**I think you got off easy**.'

'Oh?' Naruto questioned Kyuubi while making his way away from the Hokage's office.

'**Yes. You should have been subjected to tests to see if the seal was secure. It's quite dangerous for him to let you in the village. For all he knows, I'm controlling you.**'

'I suppose he trusts Ero-sennin. Can't say I do.'

As Naruto rounded a corner he was roughly pushed into the wall.

"Wha-" Naruto started, before being cut off.

"Out of my way, kid." A ninja dressed in the usual chuunin outfit said as he muscled his way past Naruto. As he took off down the corridor Naruto saw he had a large scroll and even larger bladed stars strapped to his back.

"Hey, watch it!" Naruto called out to the ninja as he dashed around another corner and out of sight.

'Man' Naruto thought, 'someone needs to teach that guy some manners'

'**And you're going to be the one to do that, I suppose?' **Kyuubi questioned in a bored voice.

'Yep' Naruto thought back as he started after the rude ninja. Turning the corner the escapee had rounded, Naruto saw him running down a long corridor towards large wooden double doors. Barely slowing his stride the ninja threw out his hands and effectively broke the hinges as he collided through the swing doors.

'He sure is in a hurry' Naruto thought as he passed through the now broken doors into an empty reception area.

"Hey you!" Naruto called out as the ninja exited the building.

'He really is in a hurry to get somewhere, isn't he?' Naruto questioned as he plunged into the chilly twilight air.

'**Mmm,' **Kyuubi agreed nonchalantly and yawning.

'Damnit' thought Naruto as he started to pursue his rude prey through the now rather empty streets 'I can't catch up to him easily with these new weights on. Stupid Ero-sennin, always picks the most inconvenient days to add more weight. The best I can do is to keep up with him.'

The ninja suddenly took a sharp turn down a dark alley, in what Naruto thought to be a dismal attempt to through his pursuer off his trail.

"Wait!" Naruto called out as he turned into the alley. While dark, it was easy to make out the ninja's shoulder length white hair in the gloom of the alley.

"What's with this kid?" The ninja muttered under his breath as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Wait up please!" Naruto shouted as the ninja sailed into the air, over a high brick wall at the end of the alley and out of sight. 'I don't think he's going to stop'.

'**What?' **Kyuubi grunted, clearly not paying attention.'**You know, it's probably not the best idea to chase one of Konoha's ninja like this'**.

'He could have really hurt someone running around like that' Naruto argued as he too sailed over the high wall and into another seedy alley.

Kyuubi snorted. **'Like you care about other people'**

'Hey, I care about others!' Naruto defended, now chasing the ninja along the rooftops of Konoha's outer houses.

Kyuubi laughed, the malicious noise filling Naruto's head. **'You care about others! You care about what other people think of you. You care to a point. You care long enough to get people's 'respect'. It's ironic. You want to be Hokage to gain the respect of people you don't even care about.'**

'That isn't true!' Naruto shouted back at Kyuubi.

**'Hmm, no, it probably isn't'** Kyuubi replied, thoughtfully. **'Yes, it's true you want to become Hokage to gain people's respect. However, it's your motives, my dear Naruto-kun, that are what need to be questioned. Why do you want their respect? I think you'll find the answer to that question to be much less glorified and righteous than one would initially think.'**

Naruto was on auto-follow now. The rude ninja had now entered the forest surrounding Konoha, but Naruto's interest in the pursuit had become void.

'**Oh well, that's enough advice for now' **Said Kyuubi cheerily.

'Advice?' Naruto replied slowly, jumping from branch to branch automatically.

'**Of course. I'll always be here to give you sisterly advice, Naruto-kun. You must remember my wisdom far exceeds any petty mortal's.'**

'Brag much?' thought Naruto, staring blankly at the scrolled back of the retreating ninja.

'**Pfft. Nap time. Later.'**

With that, Naruto felt Kyuubi's presence vanish.

Looking skyward and finding only rushing leaves, Naruto asked himself slowly "My… motives?"

* * *

The Hokage's door burst open. 

"Hokage-sama!" a young ninja exclaimed, holding the door open dramatically.

"Ahh! Iruka, I have the team list for all the new graduates." The Hokage said, pushing a pile of papers on his desk forward towards Iruka. "I'm pleased to say I managed to create evenly balanced teams, despite the uneven numbers."

"Hokage-sama, someone has stolen the forbidden Scroll of Seals!" Iruka shouted.

The Hokage stood slowly, his eyebrows raised slightly. "Oh? Who was it that was guarding it tonight?"

"Mizuki was, Hokage-sama." Iruka replied. "However, both he and the scroll are missing."

"I see." The Hokage said simply. He walked over to a crystal ball-like object and began channeling some of his chakra into it. How this fascinating orb worked no one knew, but the Hokage thought of it as one of his greatest treasures. With it, he could look into various _places_ without any… danger, as such.

It did not take long for the crystal ball's eye to find what the Hokage was searching for. As Iruka came over to see what the Hokage was doing, the ball started to focus in on a shadowy figure being pursued by a streak of white.

"Interesting…" The Hokage stated.

Iruka gasped. "Mizuki… how could he. We should dispatch all available chuunin and jounin, Hokage-sama."

The shadow suddenly stopped and seemingly confronted the streak of white.

"No," the Hokage said thoughtfully, breathing out a cloud of smoke. "Let us see where this leads."

* * *

Naruto was quickly dispelled from his dazed state when his prey suddenly turned to confront him. 

"I don't know how they found out so quickly," the ninja shouted, a crazed look in his eye, "but sending a little brat like you after me is an insult!"

"What are yo-" was all Naruto managed before diving to the side and out of the way of the kunai that was sent sailing at him.

'Well, this sure escalated quickly' Naruto thought as he dodged another kunai, landing on the underside of a large branch, his long hair flowing downward in a yellow curtain.

"So," the chuunin sneered, the crazed look in his eye heightening, "the little boy thinks he has some skill." Taking one of the large bladed stars off his back, he shouted "But you're nothing to me!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, still hanging upside down. 'This guy's got some kind of problem. It's like he wants to kill me or something'.

With a cry, the chuunin sent his weapon flying towards Naruto. 'Oh, please' Naruto thought, stopping the flow of chakra to his feet and dropping lightly to the branch below, easily avoiding the large projectile which whistled overhead. Straightening slightly, Naruto crossed his arms and stared placidly at the chuunin.

The chuunin just grinned back.

Suddenly, a faint whistling noise intruded upon Naruto's senses. 'What the…' Naruto thought as the noise's direction became apparent. 'Behind me!'

Naruto turned just in time to catch the object with his stomach.

"Haha!" The ninja exclaimed excitedly as Naruto's impaled body soared through the air, the force of the weapon easily knocking it from its original spot. "Kids these days, they think they're so tough!"

The body landed in front of the chuunin with a sickening thud.

"So," the ninja said, crouching down so he could properly ridicule his opponent, "got anything to say, brat?"

Naruto grinned slightly, blood trickling down the side of his mouth. "Yeah," he chuckled, which just enticed a coughing fit in which blood splattered to the ground, "I really should thank Ero-sennin for telling me about that **Kawarimi **trick."

"Oh? It didn't seem to help much. You still got hit."

The ninja stood up, withdrew a kunai and started spinning it around his finger. "Any last words, brat?"

Naruto smiled weakly. "A couple."

"Oh, do go on!" The chuunin raved. "The suspense is killing me!"

"**Bunshin Daibakuha**"

The chuunin's eyes widened as the clone exploded. "What!"

A great boom resounded through the forest as the chuunin was flung into a large tree trunk with such force a large crack appeared and ran its way all the way up the trunk.

Naruto emerged from the shadows and surveyed the scene. 'Reasonable sized crater? Check. Defeated opponent? Check. Hmm, I think I put too much chakra into the clone for such a friendly battle. It shouldn't have had that much power.'

**'No,' **Kyuubi yawned, **'it's just that your chakra is becoming more potent.'**

'Damnit, why are you awake?' Naruto questioned, annoyed.

'**That explosion would wake anyone up.'** Kyuubi muttered. **'Anyway, our chakra mixing continuously as it has been doing has caused your chakra to become more potent. I'm too tired to explain the details, but you'll have to be more careful with your jutsu from now on.' **

'Strange' Naruto thought, now carrying the unconscious chuunin back towards Konoha. 'I hadn't noticed any difference.'

'**No, you wouldn't have. Since the change is so gradual, you've been making unconscious changes to your chakra use to compensate. The reason it was obvious with that jutsu was because you haven't used it in at least 2 years. I didn't even know you could do it. That Kawarimi trick with the Kagebunshin was absolute brilliance, by the way.' **Kyuubi praised **'I doubt anyway would ever expect a trick like that.'**

'Yes, well, it's meant to be impossible – according to Ero-sennin.' Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as he said this. 'I'll be sure not to use it much'.

'**Good thinking. The enemy can't counter your tricks if they don't know them' **Kyuubi responded sagely.

'Indeed' replied Naruto, once again lost in his thoughts - pondering what Kyuubi had said earlier.

'_Why _do_ I want to become Hokage?_' Naruto asked himself privately.

* * *

"Well," the Hokage started, straightening up and shifting his gaze from his orb to Iruka, "it would seem our problem is solved." 

"How-? Who-? Why-? What…- What the hell just happened!" Iruka exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"It would seem our good friend has done everything for us," the Hokage said as he stood. Making his way over to the desk, he picked up the papers he had pushed towards Iruka earlier.

"Here you go, Iruka. The teams for this year's graduates, nicely completed by yours truly." The Hokage sat down at his desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mountain of paperwork to do and I'd like to be in bed by midnight."

"But-" Iruka started, but the Hokage raised a hand to silence him.

"Please, Iruka. I must get this done."

Iruka sighed. "Very well." He turned, opened the door and paused.

"Goodnight, Iruka."

Iruka's shoulders slumped. "Goodnight, Hokage-sama," he said as the door closed behind him.

Sighing, Iruka looked at papers in his hands for the first time. His eyes widened at what he read.

"Uzumaki… Naruto!"

* * *

An hour later, a loud knock broken the Hokage from his spell of signature writing. 

"Oi, old man, open the door!"

The Hokage rose slowly, stretching slightly to free a few joints, and opened the door.

White and yellow with black and green slung over its shoulder strode into the room.

"So yeah," Naruto started, "I was in the forest training and this ninja totally jump-"

"It's okay, Naruto." The Hokage reassured. "I saw what happened. I have to say I'm quite impressed." The Hokage offered Naruto a seat, once he had put his luggage down.

"Mizuki is not a high ranking chuunin, by any means, and his state of mind didn't help any." The Hokage started, taking a seat opposite Naruto. "However, the way you handled the situation… well, I must say there are few people who would have done as well as you did."

Naruto nodded. The Hokage continued.

"Really, the forethought you displayed in that fight is well beyond that of a genin. Creating a clone, out of sight and without hand seals as the fight started - few chuunin would think of doing that. Keeping the bunshin alive long enough to channel enough chakra into it for that attack – which is not an easy feat - rather than jumping him from behind as many would have done. Your attitude - watching and waiting calmly when under attack, to establish what was going – everything you did was a perfect example of how a ninja should act and what a ninja should do."

Naruto nodded his head again. He knew that his attitude was what made him strong. Itachi had used many tools and taken a long time sculpting it, after all.

"Knowing only some of your abilities and knowing how you fight, I can quite confidently say that you have all the qualities to become a great ninja, Naruto. However, being a great ninja will not make you Hokage. You need to have something else; something special. Only time will tell us if you have that special something."

Naruto nodded once again. He knew he had what it took to be a great ninja; however, in light of recent events he was not sure he had this 'special something'.

"Well then Naruto," the Hokage said, standing "I must thank you for the service you have done the village. Mizuki had, in fact, stolen a valuable scroll and was obviously intent on leaving the village – no matter the cost. I don't exactly know why you were following him, but I'm glade you were."

"He was rude to me; I wanted him to apologize." Naruto said, shrugging.

"Ahh," the Hokage chuckled, "I must remember not insult you, then."

The Hokage opened the door and lead Naruto out. "Well, goodnight Naruto. You'll be meeting your team tomorrow, and I hope they're not rude to you; for their sake."

"'Night, old man." Naruto said over his shoulder as he once again entered the chilly night air, confused but satisfied with the day's events and where they left him in the grand scheme of things.

* * *

Chapter ends here------ 

No, I'm not dead. No, I haven't given up on this story. And no, I have no intention of doing so.

I've been quite busy lately; started University recently and such. However, this should not have prevented me from updating this story. I could have quite easily made time - however, I did not.

No, dear readers (who probably aren't reading anymore), I did not make time. My time is being taken by a scourge on society called World of Warcraft. I have, as you have no doubt realized due to my lack of updates, started playing this terrible thing once again.

But fear not! I have done it! I have updated! I have gotten past my writer's block (which I used as a pathetic excuse to play WoW) and released a new chapter! We may rejoice!

...anyway. Here's the new chapter; I haven't been keeping up with _anything_ fanfictional for the past 4 months, meaning I'm not 'up with the times', or whatever. This could have greatly effected my ability to write convincing fanfiction; we shall see, since it is you, the reader, who decide it.

**As for pairings **I'm rather undecided. I think, for now, I'll just write the story (a combination of options 1 and 3, with 2, of course, still being possible). Something _will_ happen - I just cannot say when. It will, of course, be one of the **top three** pairings. Which one, when it will happen, etc, remains to be seen. **Your input on the pairings is still much appreciated.**

I'm hoping people are still interested in this story; I, of course, know how it feels when a story you enjoy is left to rot. I shall endeavor to keep this story alive and healthy.

There's a link to my forum in my profile if you wish to discuss my story/suggest things, and such like.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**

* * *

Chapter 8**

Impossibly bright sunlight streamed through tattered curtains. Birds sang loudly in immaculate chorus. A light breeze ruffled lush green leaves; Naruto groaned.

Pulling the musty sheets over his head and shutting his eyes as tightly as he could, Naruto cursed. 'Mornings suck.'

'**Oh no! What's that noise?' **Kyuubi's concerned voice rang through Naruto's head.** 'It sounds like a baby crying! Oh wait – it's just you.'**

'Haha, you're so funny.' Naruto retorted sarcastically.

'**I know.'**

'…' Naruto responded. 'Anyway, you try sleeping on a lumpy mattress like this one and not complain in the morning.'

'**I would, Naruto-kun, but my cage is rather bare.'**

'Sucks to be you, then.' Naruto thought back, rolling stiffly out of bed.

'**Aww, that hurts. You could at least put a TV or something in here.' **Kyuubi muttered.

'Uhh, how about I don't?'

'**Why not?'**

'Don't feel like it' Naruto stated.

'**Could it be that the crybaby is worried about meeting his cute little friends?' **Kyuubi jeered innocently.

'Not at all.' Naruto replied, making his way to the filthy bathroom. 'I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed; or more to the point, tried sleeping on the wrong bed.'

'**Suuuure.' **Kyuubi chortled.** 'You're just apprehensive about meeting Itachi's little brother.'**

'Not so much.' Naruto said, shrugging mentally. 'I'd be more worried about how the villages will react when the find out I'm back'

'**Bah! Who cares?' **Said Kyuubi dismissively.

'Mmm' Naruto thought nonchalantly.

Exiting the bathroom Naruto glanced at the cloak.

'Crap. Gotta get ready fast' Naruto thought, forcefully blocking out Kyuubi's voice and rushing to make whatever he could for breakfast. Opening the cupboards he could find only one thing – cup ramen.

"Man," Naruto muttered, "I wonder if these are even okay to eat. Oh well."

15 minutes later, Naruto was fed, washed, dressed and on his way to the Ninja Academy.

* * *

"You can't let that monster back in the village!" Iruka yelled as he stormed in to the Hokage's office. 

"Iruka, please!" The Hokage said placidly, raising a hand to quiet Iruka. "The matter has already been decided."

"Decided? By who? No one wants that thing in our village!" Iruka cried, slamming his hands down on the Hokage's desk.

The Hokage sighed. "I understand how you fell, Iruka, but Naruto wasn't the one that killed your parents – he is merely the container. You, and everyone else, should be thankful that Naruto is keeping the Kyuubi secure."

"Secure? For all you know, the Kyuubi's controlling him! And you put him on a team with the last Uchiha and the Hyuuga heir! You saw how he took down Mizuki – how can you possibly trust him?"

"Please, Iruka," the Hokage continued patiently. "Naruto has been trained by Jiraiya, it is not surprising he acted the way he did. Jiraiya trusts him – that should be enough reassurance for anyone."

"Jiraiya!" Iruka continued to rant. "He hasn't been seen in this village for over 10 years, and you trust his word? For all you know, he's joined with Orochimaru!"

"Iruka!" The Hokage said sternly. "The matter has been settled. Uzumaki Naruto will be a part of Team 7. You have been assigned a task – I suggest you go and do it. The graduates will no doubt be at the Academy by now. Or do I need to make that an order?"

Iruka glared at the Hokage before turning and marching out of the room without another word.

The Hokage sighed. "There will no doubt be many more reactions like that once news spreads."

"Idiots," Jiraiya muttered, appearing behind the Hokage and leaning against the windowsill. "Are they all still like that?"

"Most don't know yet, but for the most part, yes. Most of the Jounin and a few of the Chuunin understand the truth, but the rest…" The Hokage trailed off, and began to fill his pipe with his favorite tobacco.

"I had hoped, Sarutobi" Jiraiya started, turning his head to look out the window upon the village with a grim look, "that maybe, with time, they'd become more accepting of him, despite what I believed. But that was just an optimistic thought in the hopes of honoring Arashi's wishes."

The Hokage sighed once again, letting a long stream of smoke out. "They won't change, I've come to accept that. They need someone to change them. Only Naruto can do that. We must trust in him; providing his aspirations are as pure as you make them out to be."

Jiraiya frowned. "I have no reason to believe otherwise. He wants to be strong, and he wants people's respect." Jiraiya grinned slightly at that. "Reminds you of another blue-eyed ninja, eh Sarutobi?"

The Hokage smiled a melancholic smile. "Quite."

"Well then, Sarutobi," Jiraiya said, turning to climb out the window, "I had best get back to my research. Those books don't just write themselves!" Jiraiya added gleefully.

"Wait, Jiraiya." The Hokage called out, turning slowly to face Jiraiya. "I'd like you to go to the Academy. Watch people's reactions when Naruto's name is called, and take note of anyone… suspicious."

"What's this?" Jiraiya groaned. "I'm back in the village for a day and you're already handing me missions?"

"It's not a mission." The Hokage said, turning back to his desk. "I just don't fully trust some of the people there to keep their mouths shut when things come out. This is merely a precaution."

"Sure," Jiraiya grunted. "I need to talk to that Genjutsu specialist of yours anyway." He added with a sly grin as he exited through the window.

* * *

As Naruto opened the door he was hit with a blast of noise. He had entered a large room with rows and rows of desks running from the front of the room all the way to the back, each row filled with people about his age all chatting and arguing at the tops of their voices. There were a few exceptions. In the front row, dead in the center of the room, was a girl staring at her feat that had blue hair and wore a cream colored jacket. Behind her was a quiet guy wearing shades and a trench coat that was doing his best to ignore the loud guy with a dog on his head. Furthest back and closest to the left wall was a pudgy dude feasting on a bag of potato chips with what looked to be someone sleeping next to him. On the opposite side of the room were two incessantly loud girls seemly fighting over one brooding boy. 

"I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" The blonde one screamed, clawing at the face of the other.

"No way!" The pink-haired one screamed back, pulling at Blondy's long hair. "I'm going to sit next to him!"

"Me!" Blondy countered.

"Me!" Pinky challenged.

"Me!" Blondy continued.

"Me!" Pinky yelled.

'Oh man' Naruto thought 'make them shut up'.

'**I prefer to let you suffer' **Kyuubi said. **'If I was able, I'd improve your hearing just to annoy you more.'**

'You could improve my hearing?' Naruto questioned.

'**I _could_.' **Kyuubi pondered.** 'Right now the seal won't let me, because you don't want me to.'**

'And if I let you?' Asked Naruto.

'**I wouldn't do it because I don't like you.'** Kyuubi stated.

'Hey, you were willing to help me out with that tenketsu problem! Why not this?' Naruto moaned.

'**Your hearing isn't a problem, why should I help you with it?'**

'Because uhh, I'll give you a cookie if you do?' Naruto offered.

'**No deal.'**

'Stupid fox.' Naruto muttered in his mind. 'Didn't you say your chakra in my body would increase my hearing and stuff?'

'**I said 'maybe'. Apparently nothing came of it.'**

'I see.'

Naruto turned his attention back to the classroom.

'Wow,' Naruto thought, surprised 'those two managed to figure out there was an open seat on either side of the Uchiha. It's easy to see why they graduated with observation skills like that.'

'**How do you know he's Itachi's brother?'** Kyuubi questioned.

'Oh, I took a wild guess. You know, the girls fawning over their 'Sasuke-kun' and the clan symbol on his back didn't give it away or anything.'

'**How observant of you, my dear Naruto-kun.' **Kyuubi praised. **'How did I miss such obvious facts?'**

'I don't know' Naruto thought, casting an eye around for a place to sit. 'You tell me'.

'**It might have something to do with the tiny fact that I CANNOT SEE.'**

'You can't see? Why the hell not?' Naruto thought back.

"**Well, I can't see what you see, or hear what you hear. I don't have access to your senses, and therefore I can't really know what's happening in the physical world' **Kyuubi stated.

'But you always seem to know what's going on,' Naruto said, slightly confused.

'**Yes, well, your head isn't an amazingly entertaining place to be so I took to analysing your thoughts, sensations and emotions to decipher what was happening in the physical world.' **Rambled Kyuubi.** 'It is a way to entertain myself and give myself a… breath of fresh air, I guess you could say.'**

'Right…Couldn't you have just like, asked to use my eyes or something?' Naruto inquired.

Kyuubi snorted. **'Like you'd allow me _more _freedom to do what I like in your body'**

'You said you could improve my hearing if I let you.' Naruto said. 'How about we make a compromise? I let you have access to my senses and you heighten them.'

'**I accept those terms.'**

'Good. We can sort that stuff out later. Possibly when where're not surrounded by people.'

Naruto scanned the room one more time, still trying to find a good place to sit. 'What do you think – hang with the sleeping dude or lean against the back wall like a badass?'

'**Lean on the back wall.' **Kyuubi suggested.

'Sleeping dude it is, then.' Naruto said, making his way over to the eating machine and his sleeping comrade.

'**Why'd you even bother asking for my opinion?' **Kyuubi muttered.

'I had to know what not to do' Naruto stated, taking his seat next to Sleepy. The Eating Machine didn't even stop to acknowledge Naruto's presence.

'Yeah, this was a good choice.' Naruto thought smugly, leaning back and crossing his arms. 'Back of the room, not looking too suspicious by being alone, but with no one talking to me. It's nice to know I can trust your opinion to be wrong every time, fox.'

Kyuubi's retort was ignored by Naruto as the door at the front of the room opened to let in a stream of ninja, the last of which being Jiraiya. '_What the hell is Ero-sennin doing here?' _Naruto thought privately.

A chuunin with a scar running horizontally across his face, taking a large chunk of his nose with it, stepped forward holding several pieces of paper. He cleared his throat, waited for the noise to quiet down, and began speaking.

"I am pleased to announce this year's new genin teams. Once your name is called, would you please step to the front of the room where you will be assigned a jounin sensei which you will leave with for more formal introductions. Team 1 – Taku Nan, Motoya Haruko, Yugeta Manami, sensei is Yamada Keirin. Please step forward."

With that, three people slowly made their way to the front of the room, where they were ushered out quickly by a rough looking jounin.

"Team 2 –" the chuunin began again.

'Argh' Naruto muttered 'this is going to take a while. I could have slept in and still made it here in time to meet my team'. '_Still, I wonder why Ero-sennin is here. Surely he isn't taking a team?'_ Naruto pondered, until he heard a familiar name being called.

"Team 7 – Hyuuga Hinata-" Naruto saw the quiet girl in the front row jump slightly "-Uchiha Sasuke-" Naruto turned his attention to where Sasuke was sitting, noticing both Blondey and Pinky had their fingers crossed and their eyes shut tightly. "-and Uzumaki Naruto.-" Both girls let out a cry of 'No!'. "-Sensei is Hatake Kakashi."

A murmur ran through both graduates and jounin as soon as Naruto's name was announced. Whispers of "Who?" ran through the genin while a few of the jounin shouted "What!" before remembering their place.

"This cannot be!" One jounin shouted, stepping out of line to address Iruka. "The Hokage couldn't have commissioned this!" He stated in disbelief.

"Announcements will be made," Jiraiya called out sternly when the murmurs didn't die down, "addressing various… _issues _that have been raised recently. We ask you withhold all questioning until then."

"Surely you cannot approve of this, Jiraiya-sama!" Another jounin called out from the ranks.

Another murmur sounded through the room at Jiraiya's name.

"Huh?" Naruto heard Sleepy mutter. "What's going on?"

"I guess the jounin don't want a Hyuuga and an Uchiha on the same team." Sleepy's friend replied, stilling eating.

"It would be troublesome," Sleepy replied, yawning, and resting his head on his arms again.

"All questions will be addressed later!" Jiraiya repeated, leaning against the wall opposite the door. "Continue with the announcements for now."

"Yes, well," the chuunin continued. "As Kakashi seems to have been… _held up, _I ask Team 7 to please remain seated until he arrives."

'Sure isn't setting a good example for his students arriving late like that' Naruto thought, leaning forward and resting his chin on his arms, still observing the room.

"Team 8 – Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai. Please come forward."

'Oh no, poor _Sasuke-kun _has lost one of his precious followers' Naruto chided as Pinky slouched unhappily from the room.

'**I have a feeling you're going to get on the Uchiha's bad side pretty quickly.' **Kyuubi said in a bored voice.

'Hey, Itachi-sensei asked me to help his little brother. He didn't say I had to be nice when I was doing it.' Naruto said dismissively.

'**You're actually going to help him?' **Kyuubi asked.

'Eh,' Naruto shrugged mentally,' I'll see where he's at. He may not even need my help.'

'**That's unlikely, judging by the way these _children_ act.'**

'True, but not all of them are acting like children. The Uchiha himself seems pretty pissed at the whole thing. Itachi-sensei once said "Never focus on the majority, only the minority. That is where the greatest threat lies. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to change."'

'**Words of wisdom from the great Itachi-sensei!' **Kyuubi mocked. **'My immortal life is complete!'**

Naruto sighed physically. 'You're incredibly annoying sometimes, did you know that?'

Kyuubi's reply was cut off at the sound of Sleepy's voice.

"'cuse us," Sleepy yawned, "gotta get past."

"Err, right," Naruto said as he stepped into the aisle to allow Sleepy and his friend safe passage past. As he returned to his seat Naruto observed Blondy slouch slowly from her seat beside Itachi's brother and out the door, along with some jounin smoking a cigarette.

Slowly the room emptied, until only the announcer, Naruto, Jiraiya, the Uchiha and the Hyuuga remained.

"I have to get going now," the chuunin said after a few minutes of silence. "Please wait patiently for Kakashi to arrive I'm sure he's not fair off. Do your best, Hinata, Sasuke." He added, smiling.

With that, the chuunin marched out of the room, but not before glaring at Naruto for a moment. Naruto sighed when he was gone.

"Here we go again," Naruto muttered.

"Moron," Jiraiya said at the retreating back of Iruka disappeared from view. Shaking his head, Jiraiya turned towards the room.

"Oi, Naruto," Jiraiya called out, causing the Hyuuga in the front row to jump.

"What?" Naruto called back.

"I talked to that genjutsu trainer earlier, she said she'd help you out."

"That's nice." Naruto said.

"What!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "'That's nice'? You'll be alone for hours with that hot piece of a-"

Naruto coughed loudly.

Both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha stared wide eyed at Jiraiya when he said that. 'Was he going to say what I thought he was going to say? How can he be one of the Sannin?'

"Yeah, and I'll be sure to send you postcards, Ero-sennin." Naruto retorted mockingly.

"Ungrateful brat," Jiraiya muttered, turning to make his way out of the exit.

"Oh," Jiraiya said, stopping at the doorway and turning to face the room, "one thing you should know about Kakashi: he is never, ever on time. If he sets a time, turn up 3 hours late. If you want him to be somewhere at a certain time, set the time 3 hours earlier than you intend. Good luck with that." With that, Jiraiya was gone.

'_Seems like I still have a couple of hours before Kakashi gets here.' _Naruto thought '_May as well get some sleep.' _

Leaning forward and resting his head on his arms, Naruto was soon asleep.

* * *

Naruto raised his head just in time to see Kakashi walk into the room. 

"You're late." Naruto called out, once again causing the Hyuuga to jump. 'Man she scares easy.' Naruto thought.

"Err, yeah," Kakashi started, scratching the back of his head, "I tripped on a blade of grass and couldn't get back up."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…anyway," Kakashi said, "let's go to the roof and introduce ourselves." With that, he vanished.

Naruto slowly got up, straightened his overcoat, wiped the sleep out of his eyes, and followed slowly after the familiar Uchiha clan symbol to the roof.

"Well then," Kakashi said when they were all seated. "Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

Chapter ends here---- 

Yay for updates. Wasn't a very fast update but at least it wasn't more than a month. I will _try _to update quickly this time, as I have exams soon and won't have time to write. Therefore, expect an update soonish, or one in about a month.

Not too much to say. Not much happened, but the next one should be a bit more entertaining.

I was extremely pleased to see that people are still interested in this story. Thanks for the reviews and interest!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 9**

Kakashi pointed at Naruto.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" 'I thought my team was short on. Hokage-sama must have brought him in from somewhere to fill in the missing position on this team. It will be interesting to see what he's like.' Kakashi thought privately.

"What do you want me to say?" Naruto prompted.

Kakashi shrugged. "Tell us about your likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies – that kind of thing."

"Why not introduce yourself first?" Naruto said. "Give us an idea of what you want."

"Very well." Kakashi started. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. Dreams for the future…hmm. I have a few hobbies."

Naruto blinked. Sasuke frowned.

"So all we learnt was his name?" Hinata said to herself, barely more than a whisper. It was the first time Naruto had heard her speak.

'_She really has some confidence issues._' Naruto thought privately. '_Not exactly the kind of attitude I expected of one from the Hyuuga family. I suppose this is why she had such bad marks.'_

Naruto grinned mentally. 'But attitudes can be changed. If she's going to be on my team, she's going to need to change her ways.'

'**Huh? You say something?'**

'Oh, it's nothing.'

"I guess it's my turn," Naruto said aloud. "My name..." Naruto smiled a melancholic smile. "Well, you'll find out soon enough." He took on a dull, bored voice and continued, "My likes and dislikes are none of your business. Dreams for the future… hmm. I have a few hobbies."

'Who does he think he is?' Sasuke fumed, glaring at Naruto. 'You can't back talk a jounin like that. And the way he talked back to that Sannin… who is this guy? He didn't even give us his name!'

"Clever." Kakashi said in the same bored voice Naruto had tried hard to imitate. 'It would seem I am going to have a harder time than I expected getting an idea of who this kid is. I'll play along with his little game for now. He'll reveal himself to me in time.'

"You next." Kakashi stated, pointing lazily at Hinata.

Hinata looked up when she was addressed, only to quickly look back down.

"My name is H-Hyuuga Hinata," she mumbled out softly. "I like a lot of things. I dislike people who judge others harshly. My dream…" Hinata's eyes seemed even more downcast than ever. "My d-dream is to become stronger so I can be a strong l-leader of my clan. My hobbies are m-medical jutsu."

"Good," Kakashi said. 'Well, we're going to have to work on her a bit' Kakashi thought. "Next," he added with a wave of his hand.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are few things I like, and many things I dislike. My dream… no, it's not a dream. My purpose is to kill a certain man, and restore my clan." Hinata trembled slightly at this, while Naruto was slightly surprised at his reply. Sasuke really did want Itachi dead.

'No surprises there' Kakashi thought. 'Definitely the most interesting team I've ever been assigned. And probably the most unlikely to pass the test.'

"Excellent." Kakashi said. "We're all very unique, and will no doubt have our own strengths and weaknesses. Since the introductions are over I will explain our first mission."

"Mission?" Hinata appealed, her eyes widening.

"It is a task we'll all do together." Kakashi said ominously. "It will be… survival training."

"We already did that at the Academy. That's why we're here." Sasuke pointed out.

"True," Kakashi conceded, "but this isn't like your previous training."

"In what way?" Naruto invoked. 'I doubt anything these guys do will be like my previous training'

"You see," Kakashi started, "of the 27 that just passed the Academy test only 9 will actually be accepted as genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy."

"Then what was the point of the graduation test?" Sasuke questioned coldly.

"Oh that?" Kakashi continued darkly. "That was just to see who _might_ have what it takes to become genin. Tomorrow's test is what really counts. Be at Training Field 4 at 5am tomorrow, and bring all your gear."

"Oh," Kakashi said as he turned to leave, "you might want to skip breakfast or else you'll throw up." With that, Kakashi disappeared.

"Scary stuff," Naruto said, standing and stretching before turning to his new team mates. Sasuke was glaring fiercely at Naruto while Hinata, in contrast, was staring at the ground between her feet, her hands fidgeting.

'Not very talkative, are they?'

'**Hmm? Probably not. We should get working on improving your senses so I actually know what the hell is going on. You realize I haven't _truly _heard a noise in over 12 years? No birds' song, nothing.'**

'Sentimental much?'

'**It's the little things that count, as they say.'**

'Who're "they"?'

'**_They._ You're trying to tell me you don't know who _they _are?'**

'Yep.'

'**Bah! You humans – you think you know everything when really you know nothing!'**

'Uhh, right.' Naruto thought, quite confused.

"Well, I'm out." Naruto spoke up as the silence slowly started bearing upon the three. "I'll see you two tomorrow at 10am at Training Field 4 or whatever."

"B-but," Hinata stuttered, "Kakashi-sensei said for us to arrive at 5am."

"Yeah, but I don't really believe anything he says." Naruto replied, shrugging. "Ero-sennin said to arrive 3 hours after any time Kakashi sets, because he's never on time."

"Ero-sennin?" Hinata asked, puzzled.

"The perverted old man who stood off to the side as the teams were called out." Naruto responded.

"That was Jiraiya of the Sannin." Sasuke said, still glaring at Naruto.

Naruto chuckled. "Sure. I don't believe anything Ero-sennin says, either, which is why I'm turning up at 10am rather than 5am. I suggest you two do the same, and don't skip on breakfast, either."

At that Naruto left the two clan members to their own thoughts, privately discussing with Kyuubi what needed to be done to advance his senses beyond the norm.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

'You're quite sure this will work?' Naruto asked for the third time, pacing around his apartment.

**'Sigh. Yes, I'm absolutely sure. All I'm doing is connecting my senses to yours using my chakra, and since there's a constant flow of potent chakra to those senses they will improve. You can further improve them by channeling more of my chakra to them.'**

'Did you just _say _"sigh"?' Naruto asked, shaking his head.

'**Maybe?'**

'Whatever, just do what needs to be done.' Naruto muttered as he sat down on his bed. His world suddenly faded to black.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

When Naruto opened his eyes, everything seemed much clearer, and much sharper than before. Somehow the dingy old room seemed much more distinct and small details stood out much more. His room was easily visible, as if it were daylight, despite the low half-moon rising outside. Naruto could clearly see the smudgy fingerprints he had left on his window climbing in and out; and noticed various hairs and specks of skin on his pillow. He noted a vague color difference in the carpet where he had once spilt ramen over 6 years ago, something he was sure - at the time - no one would ever notice. The world seeming clearer was not what Naruto was most intrigued about, however. It was the strong, almost painful tingling in his eyes that caught Naruto's attention.

'Kyuubi?' Naruto called out mentally. 'I like the improvements and everything, but what's with the tingling? Is it normal?'

'**It's nothing to be worried about, Naruto-kun. They won't do it normally, it was just a little test of mine.' **Kyuubi reassured.

'A test?' Naruto muttered in his head, not exactly happy to have a demonic fox performing "tests" on his unconscious body.

'**Indeed. Go look in the mirror; I'm sure you'll realize what I'm doing.'**

Naruto, moving through the gloom as if it were high noon outside, headed towards the bathroom and looked into the large, cracked mirror. What he saw were not his normal eyes. The whites of his eyes had a very slight pink, almost reddish tinge to them, as if someone had placed a pink, see-through filter over his eyes only. The pupils were a slight shade darker than normal, but they were otherwise unchanged.

'What's this?' Naruto questioned.

'**You can't figure out what's going on? Maybe I should have enhanced your brain rather than your eyes.' **Kyuubi muttered.

'You could do that?'

'…**you realize I was insulting you, right? Or does the idea of becoming stronger override any other feeling? I'd like to think my cage was more intelligent than that.'**

'Just tell me what's going on,' Naruto muttered, 'I'd like to stop this tingling in my eyes. It's rather uncomfortable.'

'**As I said, it's nothing to be worried about. I've increased the flow of chakra to your eyes to enhance them greatly, granting you sharper vision and ability to see normally with little light. As a result, the chakra has engulfed your entire eye region – my chakra is what's causing the tingling. The eye is not used to such an overflow and so it doesn't seem natural to you – yet.' **Kyuubi explained. **'The longer you keep this active, the more you'll get used to it. Eventually the tingling will go away.'**

'Won't people notice if I walk around with these eyes all the time?' Naruto asked, ever so slightly worried. 'The color change slight, but it's easy enough to pick up if you look close enough.' He didn't care think it'd matter _that_ much, but he certainly didn't want to do anything to invoke further hatred from those who saw him only as the Kyuubi. Using the demon's chakra while walking around in broad daylight fell into Naruto's "What Not to Do" list.

'**You won't be using this all the time, it's too much of a strain on my chakra.' **'_What the… too much of a strain on her almost infinite chakra?'_ **'Besides, no one would pick up a color change that slight unless they had eyesight equivalent to yours with this ability activated.'**

'What would happen if the chakra flow increased?' Naruto asked, while thinking that he could probably count every individual hair on his head with these eyes if he was bored enough. 'Would my vision improve even more?'

'**Yes, but your body – or more to the point, your eyes – can't handle that kind of strain right now.** **Your eyes would probably explode.' **Kyuubi said.'**I can try if you'd like?' **She added as an afterthought.

'Uhh, no, that's fine. And what of my other senses? Can they be improved like this?'

'**Yes, but they're much harder to fine-tune. There are so many different smells, and so many different sounds to sift through that – at this stage – your body isn't prepared enough for it. The bombardment of new sensations would be too much to process.'**

'And when will my body be ready?' Naruto was prepared to do what it took to ready his body, if the results turned out to be similar to those of his eyes.

'**I'm not sure. Everything you see with your eyes exists in a set way, which cannot be changed; it simply is. Only your perception of the world changes, and thus your perception can be enhanced to see what is _truly_ there. With sight, you have always seen what is _truly_ there, but your _perception_ changes it in a way that can make you see something different from what truly is. That is why people "see things differently"; very few people have the ability to truly _perceive_ what actually is there.'**

'And this has what to do with improving my _other _senses?' Naruto prompted.

'**Damn impatient kit, I had to explain that to properly contrast how much easier it is to improve sight compared to smell and hearing.' **Kyuubi explained, annoyed.

'Just give me the watered down version.'

'**Bah! Because you have always seen what is there, sight is easy to improve as you don't _really_ see anything new, your perception is what changes. However, with hearing and smell, you pick up on many, many things you previously couldn't hear, smell or comprehend. Once you start getting these new sensations, you need to adapt and categorize them, or else it will consume you. Only once this has been done can you possibly put those senses to any practical use that could help you in any way.'**

'I see' Naruto said, nodding. 'Now, you still didn't answer my original question: when will my body be ready?'

'**Probably never. Happy?'**

'No, you could have just skipped the stupid explanation if that's the case.' Naruto muttered. 'Now, how do I stop the tingling in my eyes?'

'**Just control the chakra in your eyes like you would doing a jutsu.'**

At that, Naruto closed his eyes, focused, and noticed the tingling stopped. When he opened them again the world was startlingly different to what it was a moment ago. Gloom engulfed him instantly, and he found himself barely able to make out his visage in the dusty mirror.

'Wow' was Naruto's only thought.

'**Incredible difference, isn't it?' **Kyuubi commented.

'I suppose you see everything I see, now?' Naruto questioned.

'**Yes. It's quite a liberating feeling.' **Kyuubi said, sounding almost… excited?

'That's nice. Well, I'm going to sleep.' Naruto said suddenly feeling extremely drained. He walked out of the bathroom and threw himself on the bed. 'I'll talk to you in the morning.'

'**Aww…' **Kyuubi pouted as Naruto's eyelids closed, her world returned to its usual darkness.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Pale light greeted Naruto when he opened his eyes. The gloom of his room instantly alerted him to how early it was – the chorus of birds' song that had woken Naruto the day before had not started, and the sun had not found its way above the horizon quite yet. Wiping the sleep from his eyes and yawning, Naruto slowly pulled himself out of bed and began the mundane task of preparing for what he expected to be a long day's hard survival training. He had not intended to wake up this early, but since he did Naruto decided he should get some training in before the team's mission.

'**You know,' **Kyuubi's voice invaded Naruto's mind as he went about his business, **'you should keep that eye ability activated until you get used to it. You should also give it a name, so then you can shout it out in battles and act cool.'**

'How about I _don't _shout its name out in battle?' Naruto thought back. 'It's much more advantageous to me if the enemy don't have a clue what's going on. Still, I should give it a name… how about "Akaigan"?

'"**Red Eyes"? Brilliant! Outstanding! Shockingly original! Absolutely marvelous! People with tremble at the very thought of it someday!'** Kyuubi exclaimed gleefully.

'…' _I really wonder about her sanity sometimes. _Naruto thought privately. 'Whatever, it doesn't need a good name. No one's going to know it, anyway.'

'**What!' **Kyuubi exclaimed.** 'You're not going to shout it out in heated battles? It's what all the cool ninja do!'**

'By "cool" you mean "stupid", right?' Naruto said, rolling his eyes as he opened his apartment door and made his way outside. 'Guess I should start getting used to this eye thing while training'.

Finding it surprisingly easy to focus Kyuubi's chakra to his eyes, Naruto felt the tingling, almost painful stinging sensation return to his eyes. Instantly the world came into sharper focus, causing Naruto to blink rapidly in an attempt to get used to the sudden change. Further deciding it would be best to train his body while getting used to his new found ability Naruto headed to the training fields on the outskirts of Konoha.

The streets were virtually deserted of people, as the sun's rays were just now peaking over the horizon to bath Konoha in brilliant golden sunlight. Arriving at Training Field 1 Naruto was surprised to find it already occupied. A young kunoichi with brown hair styled into two buns wearing a pink shirt with navy blue quarter length pants was repeatedly throwing impressive amounts of kunai and shuriken at various targets – both hidden to her and visible.

Naruto could see with his Akaigan that every projectile landed in the center of every visible target. He could just make out through the trees surrounding the clearing a few more targets, obviously out of the kunoichi's line of sight with kunai embedded in them. One target hidden to the girl by the lush leaves had two kunai embedded in the red bull's-eye, barely a centimeter apart.

'Impressive' Naruto commented in his mind as he watched the girl continue to flail her arms out in a somehow graceful manner, showering the area in fast flying objects. Her actions suddenly changed as she fluidly dropped one of her hands to a scroll pouch attached to her waist, her other arm raised in front of her a defensive position, kunai in hand. Naruto watched as the girl quickly revealed a scroll and almost instantly had it unrolled, brushing the tip of her thumb along the kunai's blade as she did so. 'A summoning contract?' Naruto thought briefly before a cloud of smoke consumed the girl. She instantly emerged from the cloud, viciously attacking an invisible enemy, two kama in hand. Her attack didn't last long, her invisible opponent either backing off or defeated. Throwing herself back, she entered into a high arc, throwing each of the sickle-like kama in opposite directions, landing sofly in a crouching position, a kunai once again in her hand raised defensively as each kama thudded in to the only two targets not turned into pincushions already. They embedded themselves deeply, most of the blade hidden from view – a result of how hard they were thrown.

The kunoichi turned around and her brown eyes widened as she saw Naruto standing at the edge of the training field watching her, most of his features hidden by his large white trench coat.

"Oh!" she said, surprised. "I didn't notice you there. I'll be done in a minute."

She turned and began picking up her spent weapons, inspecting each one quickly as she replaced them in their respective weapon pouches.

"You don't have to leave on my account," Naruto said, making his way into the clearing, stopping beside one target with a kama protruding out of it.

"No, it's fine." The kunoichi responded. "I have to meet my team for a mission soon."

Bending to pull the kama out of the target it was in, Naruto found it surprisingly difficult to remove. The blade was indeed embedded deeply in the wood. 'Had this been a person's torso, I don't see them living the impact.' Naruto thought, slowly working the blade out of the wood.

"You're a gennin?" Naruto questioned, assuming she was based on her age. He estimated that she was a year or two older than he.

"Yes," she said, easily removing the other kama out of its target. "I graduated last year," she said, moving towards Naruto.

Naruto inspected the kama in his hands. It was made well, the blade extremely sharp and the wooden handle made of hard oak. It felt well balanced in Naruto's hand, even though Naruto had little experience with many weapons other than kunai and shuriken, but even he could tell it was made of excellent craft.

"You're extremely good with weapons," Naruto said as he handed her weapon to her. "I didn't see a single target not hit dead center." He added, quite impressed.

The girl smiled. "It's nothing. I've had a lot of practice, that's all. My father is a weapons master, he felt it was his duty to pass on his skills and experience."

"He did a good job," Naruto said. "I don't think I've seen anyone with that kind of skill before." 'Except maybe Itachi' he added mentally.

"Like I said, it's nothing." The girl replied. "Anyway, I've got to get going or I'll be late. I'll see you around…" the girl trailed off, now realizing she didn't actually know who she was talking to.

"Naruto," Naruto offered.

"My name's Tenten. It's was nice to meet you, Naruto." Tenten said before turning towards the exit of the training grounds.

"You too," Naruto called out. As he watched her leave, a thoughtful expression crossed his face. He was deep in thought for several minutes before Kyuubi interrupted him.

**'Just what the hell was that?' **She questioned.

'What was what?' Naruto thought back.

**'The whole praising thing with that girl.' **Kyuubi said.** 'It's like you were sucking up to her.'**

'I wasn't _sucking up_' Naruto retorted. 'I was simply admiring her skill.'

**'Oh? And what about the whole gazing after her stunt you pulled as she walked away?'**

'I was just thinking' Naruto said as he walked into the middle of the clearing and began going through a few Hyuuga-ish stances, the stinging in his eyes still a constant pressure.

**'Thinking, you say?' **Kyuubi sneered.** 'About her, no doubt!' **Kyuubi concluded.** 'Is my cute little Naruto-kun getting his first crush?'**

'No, not about her.' Naruto said, thinking he might almost be embarrassed about such an idea. He had no experience in the subject, after all, he was too young for such things!

'**Oh?' **Kyuubi pressed.

'Well, she was part of it.' He conceded.

'**Only a part? You expect me to believe that?'**

'You're an incredibly annoying fox sometimes.' Naruto muttered as he change into another Hyuuga stance, then quickly changed between two more – one for offense, one more for defense. Naruto was particularly fond of this particular defensive stance. It was the first stance he ever used in combat – 4 years ago he used it without previously doing so to dispose of one particularly brutal gang leader. It allowed him to defend easily, his left leg position slightly behind his torso, bent a small amount, making him lean back and appear shorter. His right hand was raised, open palmed in front of him, above his forward front leg. His left hand rested beside his kidney, coiled like a snake ready to strike as soon as the opponent made a mistake. And with these new eyes, he would easily pick up when this happened. The stance allowed him to defend gracefully, eluding and parrying attacks with his forward arm, while allowing for an instantaneous explosion of power from his left side.

'**If you weren't thinking about her, then what were you thinking about'** Kyuubi once again pressed as the silence continued.

'Mastering some form of weapon. I just don't know what type. Itachi-sensei told me people who use weapons use them because they aren't very good in taijutsu – this isn't true for me. I have my own style that's powerful. I don't want to give it up in favor of some weapon.'

'**Then why even bother? Just stick with your taijutsu.' **Kyuubi suggested.

'That girl, Tenten, showed me just how powerful weapons can be in the rights hands. I don't want to give up such an opportunity, but I can't think of anything that won't miss with my taijutsu.'

Naruto got the impression Kyuubi had shrugged. **'Don't ask me, I never needed petty human weapons. I had my claws; that was all I needed.'**

Naruto's eyes widened. He straightened up, breaking the stance dance he was engaged in. 'That's it…' he thought, staring into space.

'**What? Claws?'** Kyuubi questioned, confused.

'No, not claws. Similar, but not quite claws. It's perfect for to my fighting style.' Naruto thought, smiling. 'The number of tricks I could pull…'

'**Well, what is it then?' **Kyuubi asked.

'I would have both hands free at all times, unlike if I used a one handed weapon like a katana. Using a two handed weapon was out of the question from the start.' Naruto continued, clearly thinking to himself.

'**Yes, great, what is it?'**

'Wrist blades.' Naruto explained, barely able to contain his excitement. 'I would be able to instantly switch a normal fist or palm attack into a bladed one. Anyone attacking with taijutsu will find their attacks being parried by metal as well as flesh. My coat would hide them, it would be unexpected. I can create an even newer 'taijutsu' style using both flesh and blade.'

'**Hmm, I could see it working' **Kyuubi mused.

Naruto spent the next 4 hours trying to adapt his current stances to incorporate his new ideas. He was finding it immensely difficult; he just couldn't seem to find a balance to allow him to both attack as he usually would while allowing for him to change his attack into one using his imagined wrist blades without leaving an opening for counterattack.

Sighing, Naruto looked to the sky. "It's getting to be the time I met my team," he said, turning and making his way out of the training grounds.

'_If I'm going to get this mastered enough for it to become an effective style, I'm going to need some help.' _Naruto thought deep in his mind._  
_

Once again looking skyward, Naruto vividly imagined a lithe form flailing gracefully; a deadly rain of metal spiraling out from a calm center._  
_

_'Tenten, huh...'_

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Chapter ends here-----

**Finally updated**. I can tell you now, _no one _is more annoyed at the author for not updating quickly than I am. I'm not even going to try offering any pathetic excuses this time.

I had expected to write the 'survival training' thing this chapter, but as you can see, it didn't quite come about. This is, in fact, my longest chapter so far, and nothing much happened. Amazing.

**_There is good news, however.  
_**

I have a wealth of ideas for this story written down on paper, all I have to do is expand upon them. The story isn't dead - it's twitching a little; getting the feeling back into its limbs so it can get back up and get started again. Expect updates. Within the next 4 months, this time.

If any of you are still alive.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Naruto chuckled to himself as he approached his team mates. He could easily tell with his Akaigan that neither Sasuke nor Hinata had taken the advice he had given them in regards to their new 'sensei'. It was clear that both had skipped on sleep to be on time for their survival training, and Naruto was certain neither had eaten.

'Admitidly,' Naruto thought, 'I would be yawning there with them had Ero-sennin not told me about Hatake's habits.'

'**And it seems he was telling the truth, for once,' **Kyuubi added sardonically. **'You can never trust that pervert.'**

Naruto made his way across the field and approached his team mates who had barely acknowledged his presence. Hinata had hesitantly flashed her eyes towards Naruto before quickly looking affectionately at a spot between her feet while Sasuke briefly glared at Naruto in annoyance as he walked past to lean against one of the 3 large wooden posts rising out of the ground in the center of the field.

After 5 minutes of waiting Naruto was getting bored. He couldn't imagine why Kakashi would be consistently late enough to warrant a warning from Jiraiya. Being a few minutes late constantly is an annoying but forgivable quirk a person might have, however arriving 3 _hours _late continuously is unheard of.

'I must find out why Hatake is always late,' Naruto thought to Kyuubi. 'I wonder if Ero-sennin knows?'

Kyuubi's reply was cut off as Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of Naruto, accompanied with a cloud of smoke.

"Morning everyone." Kakashi greeted lazily as the smoke slowly cleared.

"You're late. _Again_." Naruto replied coldly.

"Ah," Kakashi said sheepishly, his hand moving to scratch the back of his head nervously, "you see, a small boy was trapped in an underground cave and I had to dig him out with a rusty spoon so…"

"…" Sasuke yelled angrily at Kakashi.

"…" Hinata added hesitantly.

"…" Naruto said, compounding and enforcing what his team mates had said.

"Well then," Kakashi spoke up as the four watched tumbleweed roll slowly past, "I will now explain your mission for today."

Kakashi held up two small bells.

"Your mission is to get one of these bells from me before Noon. If you don't get a bell from me, you will be tied to one of those logs" – Kakashi pointed to the posts Naruto was leaning on – "and those who get the bells will eat their lunch in front of you."

'Well that explains why he told us not to eat anything.' Naruto chuckled mentally. 'It's not that we would throw up, he just needed a way to 'punish' us for failing his test.'

'**Pathetic,' **Kyuubi spat. **'If you want to punish someone, you should do it right. Missing a simple meal or two is nothing.' **

Naruto nodded in his head, thinking back to his training with Itachi and the punishment he received for failing _his _challenges. It sometimes took Naruto days to recover from his time in the **Tsukuyomi** world. A petty empty stomach was nothing compared to the pains he had endured tied to that cross.

"Additionally," Kakashi continued, breaking Naruto from his spell of melancholic thoughts, "those who do not get a bell will be sent back to the Academy for failing to complete their mission, and subsequently fail to achieve the rank of Genin."

Hinata shifted nervously as Kakashi said this.

"B-but, there are only two bells, Kakashi-senesi." Hinata spoke softly, her eyes filled with dread. She knew she was no match for a Jounin, and both her team mates seemed much stronger than herself.

"Right," Kakashi grinned behind his mask. "That means that one of you will be tied to the post, and therefore be sent back to the Academy."

The stricken look that crossed Hinata's face was enough for Kakashi to rethink what he had said. 'Way to knock what little confidence she had, moron.' Kakashi thought. 'The rules of this test are designed to create competition between them, but she's just so… _weak_ that any pressure will shatter what little confidence she has in herself.'

"Well, I will say this," Kakashi said, deciding to give the three a subtle hint, although one disguised as a threat. "It's more likely all three of you will fail together than it is for any one of you to pass. You are, after all, only Academy graduates and I am a Jounin."

Kakashi placed an alarm clock on the ground. "This clock is set for Noon. Shall we begin?"

The three graduates nodded. Well, Hinata bobbed her head slowly, Sasuke smirked and Naruto shrugged. Kakashi took this as a sign that they were ready.

"Begin," Kakashi said, and the three disappeared.

* * *

Naruto had been watching Kakashi for several minutes, trying to decide the best way to get a bell from him. It was clear Kakashi didn't expect much from him or his team mates as he had taken one of Jiraiya's 'novels' out as soon as the three had vanished and had been reading ever since. 

As Kakashi let out yet another bout of giggles, Naruto became annoyed. His team mates were off being useless somewhere, his 'sensei' was enjoying a good read while he himself was hiding in damp undergrowth waiting for something to happen. Visibly deciding on something, a single shadow clone appeared beside Naruto. It nodded once before walking casually out of the bush towards Kakashi, who hadn't stopped chuckling to himself.

The clone circled until it was behind Kakashi. It paused for a few moments, perplexed, waiting for the distracted ninja to at least notice him. Shrugging, the clone burst into action quickly launching a wave of shuriken towards the distracted ninja's back, aiming for vital points along the spine and fleshy, easily hittable organs. As the projectiles soared through the air, the clone rushed forward, intent on engaging his opponent in Taijutsu while he was occupied with the shuriken.

Kakashi turned a page a shifted his position slightly. He withdrew a single kunai from his weapons pouch and parried or caught each of the incoming shuriken easily. He placed his kunai and captured shuriken back in his weapons pouch and marked the page in his book he was on. Placing the book in its holder, Kakashi vanished, only to appear behind the clone rushing towards him.

Surprised, the clone's eyes widened. He looked back to see Kakashi crouched behind him, his hands clasped together, about to finish a jutsu.

'_Shit, a Katon jutsu?' _the clone thought to itself. _'I can't counter that in this position… wait, that can't be…'_

The clone drew upon Naruto's memories. Someone had once tried to pick a fight with Jiraiya when Naruto was 10. Jiraiya had used a technique very similar to the one the clone saw coming towards him to deliver a vicious Taijutsu move right to the…

Kakashi spoke as the blood drained from the clone's face. "You should never let an enemy get behind you. Now, lesson one: Taijutsu."

Kakashi thrust his hands forward, letting out the shrill cry of "ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!"

Instantly, the clone was covered in a dense ball of razor sharp, extremely hard golden-yellow spikes. Kakashi couldn't stop himself as he thrust his hands deep into the ball of dense spines, his fingers, hands and arms puncturing themselves on the razor sharp strands of hair. Grunting in pain, Kakashi threw himself away from the ball as it suddenly expanded outwards, the needle-like points rising several feet in every direction, forcing Kakashi to back away further, least his entire body become full of thousands of tiny holes.

To say Kakashi wasn't surprised would be a lie. The last time he had seen that jutsu being used was over 15 years ago by his deceased sensei, Yondaime. To his knowledge, it had never been taught to anyone but Jiraiya, and no one had heard from him in 10 years. How, then, could this kid know it?

Kakashi looked at his arms and hands to see blood seeping out of many tiny holes. Using the very small amount of medical jutsu he knew he closed all the trivial wounds before looking once again at the ball of giant, golden spines, so similar to his deceased sensei's jutsu. Deciding it would be best to reorganize his thoughts for a time and gain the upper hand again, Kakashi disappeared in the usual cloud of smoke.

Almost instantly after Kakashi vanished, the clone released its jutsu. He hadn't expected Kakashi to leave, he had expected some form of elemental jutsu to be used on him as Taijutsu had become useless. As he looked around, however, he noticed a bell a ways off. Obviously it would be trapped in someway, though the clone couldn't see how. Luckily for him, he was a clone and so any trap that may be set didn't worry it.

As his clone walked towards the bell, Naruto smiled. He could see with his Akaigan, even from his terrible vantage point that the bell was trapped and his clone would soon be hung upside down. Evidently, the clone did not have Kyuubi's chakra and so could not activate the ability, something Naruto would have to question Kyuubi on later. _'Probably better to be the clone so I don't have this constant stinging in my eyes!'_ As predicted, his clone was soon hanging upside down.

'Now, all we need is for Hatake to come out of hiding to spring our own trap,' Naruto smirked. Sure enough, Kakashi was soon retrieving his lost bell and lecturing the clone.

'Wait for it…' Naruto thought as he readied an arsenal of throwing weapons, waiting for an opening to launch his attack.

'Now!' Naruto thought, drawing back his weapons. As he was about to throw, a mass of shuriken flew past Naruto and hit Kakashi, sending him flying through the air before yet another cloud of smoke revealed a very dead looking log.

'**Such an over-used jutsu, that one, and yet it always works,'** Kyuubi stated, amused.

Naruto frowned as he watched the log crash in to the ground. The Uchiha messed up his plan, but it wouldn't have worked anyway as the Jounin obviously let his guard down to provoke such an attack.

'Oh well, the others can have their turn now,' Naruto thought, finally dismissing his clone. He needed to formulate a plan if he were to pass this stupid test.

* * *

Naruto watched as Sasuke took on Kakashi. Naruto was a little disappointed with the Uchiha's ability, but it looked as if he had potential. 

'He's no where near where he needs to be for Itachi's plan, however. He doesn't even have the Sharingan yet!'

'**Oh, he almost got a bell!'** Kyuubi exclaimed as Sasuke's fingers managed to brush one of the bells, seemingly ignoring Naruto.

As the fight wore on Sasuke unleashed an impressive looking Katon jutsu, but Kakashi countered by quickly using a Doton jutsu to submerge Sasuke up to his neck. After giving a quick speech, Kakashi once again disappeared, leaving Sasuke trapped.

'This test is stupid,' Naruto observed. 'There's no way for these people to get a bell. I'd have to go all out and take Hatake by surprise if I was to have any chance, and my ability is well above any useless Academy graduate.'

'**You're only figuring this out now?' **Kyuubi asked, surprised. **'It seemed pretty obvious from the start that this test was designed to be impossible for you guys.'**

'Well sorry for not having the IQ of a demon, _oh Great One,'_ Naruto exclaimed. 'Please, do let a petty mortal such as myself in on the secrets of this incredible mission I have be sent on!'

'**I never bothered thinking about what the actual test was,'** Kyuubi responded. **'And not all demons are smart or wise, you know. I knew this one guy, Shukaku; such a moron! I only talked to him because I heard he was great in be-'**

Naruto blocked out the rest of Kyuubi's story and set his mind to discovering the true point of the bell test. It just didn't make sense to Naruto. Genin squads always had 3 members with a Jounin sensei, and yet this test forced one member to fail no matter what. And yet, Kakashi didn't seem to think any of them would pass, going so far as to say "It's more likely all three of you will fail together than it is for any one of you to pass."

As Naruto continued to think on the matter, one glaringly obvious aspect of the test stood out: it was designed to drive a wedge between the three graduates. Deciding to ask Kyuubi's opinion on what this could mean, Naruto tuned into what she was saying once again.

'…**and so I said to Shukaku, "Bitch you're good but you're not _that _good!" and that pretty much ended the relationship.'**

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'So Kyuubi, how do we pass this test? Obviously it's designed to drive the team apart.'

'**So work together or something, show Hatake you don't fear his pathetic attempts at punishment.' **Kyuubi shrugged. **'You know, you should really call me something more affectionate, Naruto-kun. We've known each other for a long time now, so there's no need to be so formal.'**

'Sure, whatever Kyuu-_chan,_' Naruto responded distractedly, thinking about Kyuubi's idea to work together with his team. Naruto had never worked as a team before, save for a few missions with Itachi, which was more of a partnership. Team work involved watching out for others, making their safety your primary concern and encouraged unnecessary emotion in battle situations. It was not a concept Naruto agreed with for the most part, but it did allow for the accomplishment for goals that could not be achieved by a single person. This was obviously the case with this bell test; there would be no way a single Academy graduate could pass, but as a team there was a chance they could get a bell and therefore pass the test together

Naruto sighed.

'_Now all I need to do is find my team, get them to agree to what I propose, and then figure out how to work as a team. Great.'_

As Sasuke had already freed himself from his earthly prison and left the clearing, Naruto straightened up, dusted himself off and left to find Hyuuga Hinata.

* * *

Naruto found Hinata standing completely still in the middle of a clearing, staring wide-eyed at unseen horrors. 

"Genjutsu, damnit." Naruto swore as he approached the Hyuuga. "And I have no idea what Genjutsu Hatake used on her, not that I'd know how to break it anyway…"

'**She's obviously useless.' **Kyuubi stated, now beginning to grow bored with Kakashi's bell test.** 'You should go find the Uchiha and work with him to get this over with quickly.'**

'No,' Naruto thought back, 'I need her bloodline abilities for my plan.'

Circling the Hyuuga and thinking for a time, Naruto finally came to stand in front of the young heir. Bringing his hand back, he quickly slapped the Hyuuga across the face, the force of the blow sending the petite girl stumbling back several feet.

Blinking rapidly and holding her cheek in pain, Hinata's conscious mind returned to her body and looked upon Naruto, confused.

"Your name is Hinata, right?" Naruto spoke once he realized Hinata was freed from the Genjutsu. At the Hyuuga's hesitant nod, Naruto continued. "My name is Naruto."

Naruto extended his hand, which Hinata gently took and shook lightly, still confused as to what was going on. Naruto smiled as he let go of her hand, intent on being as friendly as possible to get Hinata on his side.

"Well," Naruto sighed, making an act "it seems pretty obvious to me that none of us have what it takes to get a bell from Hatake." Hinata reluctantly nodded at this, her hopes of somehow getting a bell and passing the test gone.

"So I was thinking," Naruto continued, "that maybe together we would be able to get them from him. The test is obviously designed to drive us apart, that's why there're only two bells, don't you agree?"

Hinata once again nodded, a glimmer of hope appearing in her mind. Perhaps with Naruto's help she would be able to achieve what she could never achieve on her own and acquire a bell

"And since the test is designed to drive a wedge between us, I think the actual test is to see if we can work as a team." Naruto concluded. "After all, if we can work as a team to achieve what a single person could not, we are obviously suited to work as a Genin team together."

The Hyuuga heir nodded once more, now smiling. Her being began to slowly fill with hope as Naruto laid out his plan to her.

* * *

To say Kakashi was truly surprised would be a lie, but he was somewhat startled. He had been watching the seconds ticking away on the clock, anticipating the end of the test when a pair of Byakugan-activated eyes came rushing towards him. While not at all afraid of the girl possessing the eyes, Kakashi was very wary of the Jyuuken style she was assaulting him with. Her general style was sloppy and lacked certainty, but the principle force behind her strikes was still present – bursts of chakra were being released with each attack. It was this aspect of the Taijutsu attack that kept Kakashi backing away from the girl – he was well aware that even a near miss could prove devastating to him, and consequently he was very careful to avoid every attack by the greatest margin possible. 

But then something else happened. So completely focused on avoiding the deadly Jyuuken assault from his front, Hatake Kakashi - famous Konoha Nin for copying over a thousand jutsu - was caught off guard by mere Academy graduates.

A swift roundhouse to the back of the head was about the most unexpected thing to happen to him in Kakashi's recent life.

Managing to rotate his body mid-flight, Kakashi landed roughly on his feet and was suddenly presented with two young ninja engaging him in Taijutsu. The Hyuuga, Byakugan still blazing, was now joined by the enigmatic blonde dressed in his overly large white trench coat. The basic Taijutsu he was using was terrible, and Kakashi had expected more. However, the added threat just by his mere presence was enough to make him decide to retreat and gain the upper hand. Substituting himself with a trusty log by using the ever useful, overused and overpowered **Kawarimi no Jutsu**, Kakashi found himself in a nearby thicket. Sighing to himself and rubbing his throbbing head, Kakashi observed the two youngsters as they looked at Kakashi's log friend, annoyed. The blonde turned to the Hyuuga and said something – what, Kakashi couldn't lip-read without his Sharingan from this distance. The Hyuuga then pointed right at Kakashi, and the blonde nodded. The air was soon full of kunai with explosive tags attached flying directly towards Kakashi.

"-king Byakugan," Kakashi cursed as he burst from his hiding place and in to the open, just as the thicket he had been in exploded. Earth and wood was sent flying in every direction, coating Kakashi with dirt and splinters. As Kakashi turned to survey the damage, three pairs of hands clamped on to his limbs from behind, preventing the now thoroughly surprised Jounin from moving. A now smiling Hinata and Naruto slowly approached Kakashi from across the clearing

* * *

**Twenty Minutes Earlier**

"So, do you agree that we should work together?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"B-but, why not get Sasuke to help?" Hinata replied. "He's a better ninja than I am." She added, her eyes downcast.

"We don't need _his _help for this," Naruto reassured Hinata. "All we need is your Byakugan and Jyuuken, and my clones."

Hinata's eyes widened at this. She hadn't expected Naruto to know about her bloodline and Taijutsu style since he didn't seem to be from Konoha.

"How d-do you know about my b-bloodline abilities?" Hinata questioned Naruto, confused.

"The Hyuuga are pretty famous," Naruto responded, shrugging. "And that's why it's perfect for my plan! What I need you to do, Hinata, is attack Kakashi with your Jyuuken. He will know the style and probably try to avoid it as much as possibly since he knows the consequences of being hit. Do you think you can do that?"

Hinata looked at her favored spot between her feet, uncertainty clearly evident on her face. At this, Naruto was suddenly struck by the absurdity of her personality. This weak, insecure wannabe kunoichi was supposed to be the heir of the famous, powerful and noble Hyuuga clan? It was hard to believe.

'There has to be some reason for it' Naruto thought, 'and I must find out what it is if my plans for Hinata and my eventual learning of her Jyuuken style are to succeed.'

'**What?' **Kyuubi exclaimed. **'You were actually serious when you said something about "changing her attitude"? It's a complete waste of time; she's obviously a lost cause.'**

'She knows the most powerful form of Jyuuken' Naruto argued to Kyuubi, 'and as far as I can tell she just lacks the confidence to use it properly. Once I break her and remold her, the full power of her Jyuuken style will be revealed to me and I can continue to adapt and evolve my own form of Jyuuken. There is only so far Itachi-sensei's copied style can take me. My Taijutsu style must continue to evolve and strengthen as I do.'

'**Too much effort if you ask me.' **Kyuubi yawned.

'_Damn lazy arse fox, probably had a bunch of servants doing all her work for her.'_

"Look," Naruto said, becoming slightly irritated with Hinata's lack of cooperation, "you're not going to become a Genin by staring at the ground, and there's no way you'll be a good leader of your clan if you always ask the ground to solve your problems. Now Hinata, do you think you can keep Hatake busy with your Jyuuken?"

"I-I'm not sure," Hinata said without looking up.

"Well," Naruto started, reaching out and forcing Hinata to look at his eyes, willing his confidence into her, if only to get his damn plan in action, "I _know _you can. It's not a feared and famous style for no reason!" Hinata finally nodded, and Naruto gave her perhaps the biggest and most encouraging smile he had ever formed. Realizing Hinata couldn't actually see his smile due to the high collar of his trench coat, Naruto unzipped the white coat, letting it hang and move as it pleased while exposing his black pants and top. _'This feels unnatural.'_ Naruto thought, thinking about both his smile and his open trench coat, usually kept closed and zipped up.

"Great! Okay, while you keep Hatake busy I'm going to sneak up from behind and attack him as well. I doubt he'll expect you attacking him, let alone myself as well. I predict he will retreat and observe us like he did the first time I fought him and try to gain the upper hand. Are you with me so far?"

"Y-yes," Hinata said, trying to picture the fight in her mind.

"Good!" Naruto encouraged. "While the fight is going on, I'll get my shadow clones to surround the area, so no matter where Hatake goes there'll be clones nearby to trap him. When he retreats, you can find him with your Byakugan and we can chase him out in to the open again. As this happens, the clones will grab him from behind and we can safely take the bells from him!"

It was a simple plan, one that didn't require advanced jutsu or elaborate weapon traps, only simple Taijutsu and some clones. While Hinata wasn't absolutely sure of her ability, it wasn't like she had any option but to go with the plan – she truly didn't want to fail the test. She had to try her best!

Nodding her head with an amount of confidence Naruto had not seen in the young Hyuuga before, Hinata accepted the plan.

"Okay then, let's go!" Naruto exclaimed, brimming with confidence.

* * *

The two found Kakashi in the field the test had started. He seemed bored, idling watching the clock set for Noon. Naruto observed for a few moments, trying to tell if Kakashi had noticed them. Soon coming to the conclusion that Kakashi wasn't aware of their presence, Naruto turned to Hinata. 

"I'm going to circle around to the other side of the field, creating shadow clones as I go. I need you to drive Hatake towards me in a few minutes, will you do that?" Naruto was careful not to leave any doubt that he thought she could do it, trying to get Hinata's confidence as high as possible.

"I g-guess." Hinata replied with little certainty.

"You guess, or you will?" Naruto pressed, not letting her have the novelty of uncertainty.

"I will," came the reply after a short pause. Naruto gave another of his best reassuring smiles.

"Let's do this, then!" Naruto exclaimed, leaving Hinata and quickly maneuvering around the field's edge, creating clones as he went.

**'You don't honestly think this will work'** Kyuubi snorted as Naruto settled himself down in some dense bush, his clones poised ready, waiting for Hinata to attack.

'It's so simple it can't possibly fail' Naruto replied casually. 'Nothing _can _go wrong, unless like, one of the clones fall over'

Kyuubi's response was ignored by Naruto as Hinata suddenly burst forth and engaged Kakashi, using an all too familiar style that Naruto observed intently with his Akaigan, now barely noticing the strange tingling in his eyes. _'Her style isn't terrible, but it lacks… certainty, finality, power and… confidence. All quirks that can be hammered out easily… if you have the right hammer.'_

As Hinata drove Kakashi closer to Naruto, Naruto's vision soon focused itself on the appearance of the Byakugan in Hinata's eyes. It was completely different from all versions of the Sharingan, and his own Akaigan. Veins bulged and became easily visible around the eyes, while the usual pupil-less Hyuuga eyes had a visible marking on the usually unmarked lavender iris.

'**You know,**' Kyuubi pondered, **'she can probably tell with that Byakugan of hers that you're using my chakra and focusing it to your eyes. You might want to consider that when you're around her.'**

Naruto thought over what he knew about the Byakugan – can see great distances, in a near-360 degree sphere, through objects and, most importantly to Naruto, chakra. Deciding to play it safe for the time being, Naruto deactivated the flow of chakra to his eyes. He was instantly plunged into the gloom of the undergrowth he was in, and almost thought himself blinded as he could now hardly make out any defining features of Kakashi or Hinata.

'It's hard to believe my true vision is that bad' Naruto thought, shocked.

'**You mean it's hard to believe perfect _human_ vision is that bad' **Kyuubi chuckled.

Naruto judged it was now time for him to make his move on Kakashi. Zipping his open trench coat back up to avoid any chance it could trip him, he rushed from his spot. Coming up behind the engaged Jounin Naruto drew his leg back and, with as much force as he could, kicked the one-eyed ninja in the back of the head. Smiling briefly to Hinata as Kakashi flew through air, Naruto led a renewed assault on the startled Jounin with the most basic of Taijutsu. True to his prediction, Kakashi soon vanished only to be replaced by a sturdy log. Shaking his head at the log's predictable appearance, Naruto turned to Hinata.

"That was great!" He said, smiling. "Now, where did he go to?"

Hinata gave a small smile in return, before pointing to a large crop of bush a good distance away. Naruto nodded, quickly withdrawing copious amounts of kunai with what he considered to be thoroughly entertaining explosive tags, which he promptly threw towards the spot Hinata was pointing. True to Naruto's expectations, Kakashi burst from the bushes and turned back to watch the pretty explosions when Naruto's final trap was sprung.

Three shadow clones threw themselves on Kakashi, disabling his arms and legs to prevent him from escaping. Naruto once again had a smile on his face, which was mirrored by Hinata as they both made their way towards Kakashi.

Approaching, Naruto couldn't help but bask in the moment. His plan had gone off flawlessly. Stopping in front of the captured Jounin, Naruto took a moment to look him up and down.

"What was it you told me, Hatake?" Naruto said, a smirk on his face. "'You should never let an enemy get behind you', that was it, wasn't it? Maybe if you took your own advice, you wouldn't be in this position. I'll be taking those bells now."

As Naruto's hand reached out towards the bells, the shrill cry of an alarm clock sounded through the air. Naruto's hand paused, and a strange look came across his face. Hinata's small smile slowly disappeared as the alarm continued to cry out the Academy graduates' failure. Naruto's clones disappeared in a cloud smoke.

"Well, well," Kakashi spoke up as the alarm clock's shrieking stopped, "it looks like you guys… pass."

Hinata's disappointed face turned into one of confusion as Kakashi said this.

"B-but Kakashi-sensei, we didn't get the bells from you." Hinata said with uncertainty in her voice.

"True," Kakashi conceded, "but the test was never about the bells. The test was to see whether or not you could work together as a team. You two did just that, and while Sasuke wasn't a part of your plan, he came close to getting a bell on his own so… you guys pass."

Naruto's face didn't change as Kakashi explained the test. Mentally, he was raging.

'I can't believe I let my emotions get the better of me. I should never have bragged. Even when I had gotten the bells, I should have kept my composure. Have you forgotten what you learnt from Itachi-sensei, moron? What the crap was that. _Never again_. Never again will such idiocy happen.'

'**Yeah that was pretty stupid of you' **Kyuubi added helpfully**. 'I can't believe that happened, to tell the truth. He wasn't dead; the mission hadn't been completed; he could have easily broken free; you shouldn't have even gone near him, just have a clone get the bells. But, I never said you were a very intelligent person.'**

Sasuke soon approached the group and found out the good news. He barely acknowledged the fact he had passed before leaving the group, muttering something about 'training'. Naruto continued to berate himself mentally over his actions, completely ignoring the conversation around him. Hinata was still getting over the shock of passing when she was certain she had failed.

As the Noon day sun continued to shine brightly down on the trio, Kakashi announced he was leaving. Both newly appointed Genin barely acknowledged his imminent departure; Hinata stretched her arms while Naruto took off his heavy white trench coat as the temperature had risen. Naruto turned in time to see Kakashi vanish in a swirl of leaves, a change from his usual smoke.

Kakashi, however, had seen Naruto's full face for the first time and was struck by the similarities he had with the young boy who was the great Kyuubi's container. As Kakashi walked to a popular Jounin joint, he couldn't help but associate his new student with the young boy that bore those same facial marks. Trying to give the face a name, Kakashi finally remembered: Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. He had vanished 6 years ago, and no one seemed to know what happened. But now, this young ninja, who would be the appropriate age and resembled the young boy so much appears, with special treatment from the Hokage? Having not visited the Hokage recently, Kakashi changed his course and headed towards the Hokage's tower, for he had many questions that needed answering. Kakashi was sure he had discovered the enigmatic young blonde's secret.

Naruto had finally grown bored of insulting himself, and became fully aware of his surroundings for the first time since the clock rang. Noticing the young Hyuuga was still with him, Naruto decided now was as good a time as any to initiate his plans for the timid Hyuuga heir.

Turning to face Hinata, who still looked a little shocked, Naruto spoke.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto said casually, "would you be interested in training with me for a while? We can eat the lunches Hatake left and then train for a bit, what do you say?"

"U-umm, I don't know if I should," Hinata replied nervously. She wasn't sure her father would approve of her training with anyone other than himself or her Jounin instructor.

"We're team mates now, and we work well together." Naruto pressed. "Just say 'yes'."

Hinata shifted nervously. It was true that they were team mates now, and they did seem to work well together. What harm could a little training do?

"Yes, I will t-train with you, Naruto-k..kun." Hinata finally replied.

Naruto smiled.

_'Excellent.'  
_

* * *

_Chapter ends here-----_

Well, I'm fairly certain you're all dead by now. However, I have produced a new chapter for those of you still managing to cling to life! And there's more good news! **I will be updating this story again, _within the next 7 days!_**

...you guys don't believe me, do you:(**_  
_**

_I'll just have to prove to you I can do it! _

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Naruto and Hinata sat in silence as they at their lunch, both lost in their own thoughts. Naruto was pondering how best to go about 'training' Hinata. It was clear from their brief fight with Kakashi that Hinata was proficient with her Byakugan and Jyuuken Taijustu, but there was something in her being that was preventing her from fully utilizing both to their fullest potential. Her lack of confidence was the most obvious perpetrator, but Naruto suspected that there was more to it than that.

'I really need to see her fight more to discover what's holding her back.' Naurto pondered. 'She's useless to me and herself in her current state.'

Hinata meanwhile was thinking about her new team mate Naruto. While he had initially seemed rude and cold when she had first met him, he had shown to her today that he could be kind and caring as well. Hinata envied the confidence he had showed during the bell test, and was glad he was on her team and had offered to train with her. She had never trained with anyone but her father before now and was curious of what would happen.

When the two had finished their lunch they stood and Naruto lead Hinata to the middle of the training field. When they got there, Naruto turned to face Hinata, brushing his long hair out of his eyes. Hinata stood, eyes to the ground, feet close together, fingers fiddling nervously. Naruto broke the tension by slipping into a vaguely recognizable, basic Academy Taijutsu stance.

"I thought we'd start with some Taijutsu sparing," Naruto said. "I'm not very good at Taijutsu," _At least not this kind of Taijutsu _"and it's obviously a Hyuuga specialty. It can't hurt to get a little practice in."

Hinata shifted nerviously. "B-but, Naruto-kun, my Jyu-jyuuken is not meant for casual fighting," her eyes became more downcast as she continued. "If I did s-something wrong, I might k-kill you."

'**Haha, yeah right,' **Kyuubi's malicious laugh echoed through Naruto's head.

'Shut up, fox,' Naruto spat back quickly.

Naruto stood naturally for a moment, thinking. While it was doubtful Hinata could kill him, it would be best to avoid being hit by Jyuuken. At least, it would be best if _he _didn't get hit by any Jyuuken attacks. _'It is essential for my plans, however, that I gain the knowledge of what it is like to be hit. There is no better way to learn the Jyuuken's affects than to expose your own being to them… or at least a clone's being, whose knowledge will be passed on to me when it dispels.'_

Smiling to Hinata, Naruto explained the basics of his solution.

"Alright, I've got it! You can fight one of my clones!" Naruto said happily. "They're just like me, except… not me? What do you say?"

Hinata agreed, after all there was no harm in killing a mere clone, mistake or otherwise.

**'Well I'm not going to stay around for this, I'm going to sleep. Good night, Naruto-kun.'**

''night, Kyuu-_chan_, hope you die in your sleep.' Naruto thought back evilly.

Outwardly, Naruto smiled happily.

"Great!" Naruto said, making a cross-shaped seal with his hands. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

A single clone appeared beside Naruto, acquiring a sloppy stance.

"Let's do it!" The clone said, charging towards the relatively unprepared Hyuuga, who nonetheless easily blocked or parried the clone's attacks. Naruto looked upon the scene, a small smile gracing his features as he anticipated the knowledge he would soon acquire, knowledge even Itachi could not give him concerning the style his own so closely mimicked.

* * *

Kakashi made his way through the well lit hallway to the Hokage's office. He was certain now that the long haired blonde on his team was Uzumaki Naruto. Having returned from a mission late at night on the eve of his acceptance of a Genin team, Kakashi had heard rumors that his Team 7 was one member short. Not concerning himself with the rumors, he had slept and woken late. As he had walked to the place where he often mourned his fallen friends, he had noticed a change in the villagers. People were not going about their usual daily business. Instead, there were often groups of 2 or 3 talking in hushed tones to each other, and sometimes there were larger gatherings where heated debates were apparently taking place. Not one to concern himself with the gossip of the village, Kakashi had shrugged it off and was soon lost in the memories of his past. 

As Kakashi waited outside the Hokage's office, he continued to assure himself of his young student's identity. The whispers and debate were still apparent as Kakashi made his way to the Academy to pick up his team. Being as late as he was, Kakashi did not stop to ask what was so interesting. He wasn't _that_ inconsiderate to his waiting team. He wasn't surprised when he saw 3 waiting Academy graduates in the classroom; it was to be expected from the Hokage. As the team introduced themselves, he was not that surprised at the blonde's introduction. Many ninja were reluctant to show their true colors at first a first meeting, and Kakashi was one of those people. He knew he would discover who the blonde was in time.

Now, Kakashi knew why the blonde said that they would find out his name soon, and why he smiled in the melancholic way he did as he said so. Kakashi now knew why the village was full of rumors, and why everyone spoke in hushed tones. Many had thought the Kyuubi container dead after mere days of there being no sighting. His return would make most of the villagers furious and a large proportion of the ninja populous would be equally angry. Kakashi himself saw the young ninja as what he was, a young boy that was only the container for the great Kyuubi and not the monster itself. He was in the minority, however, and most still saw him simply as the Kyuubi reincarnated.

Shaken from his thoughts, literally, by a Chuunin, Kakashi was lead into the Hokage's office. The Hokage sat alone at his desk, behind a never-shrinking pile of paper work, smoking on his beloved pipe.

"Ah, Kakashi," the Hokage spoke as Kakashi entered, releasing a cloud of smoke from his mouth. "I thought I might be seeing you soon."

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, bowing slightly. "I had several questions for you, but now, it is beginning to make sense." Kakashi's eye shifted to look behind the Hokage. "It has been a long time, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya released the jutsu he had used to conceal himself, appearing behind the Hokage.

"As sharp as ever I see, Kakashi." Jiraiya said. "I assume you have figured out for yourself the identity of your blonde team mate."

Kakashi nodded. "I believe I have. I must admit I was surprised at first, but your presence here, Jiraiya-sama, explains a lot." Kakashi sighed, but continued. "He seems weak, considering he trained with you for however many years it was. I would have expected more, considering who your last apprentice was."

"Oh?" Jiraiya grinned. "And what exactly made him seem weak?"

"Well," Kakashi thought for a moment, "his Taijutsu, for starters. It was simply terrible."

The Hokage sent a surprised look at Jiraiya. "His Taijutsu is weak you say, Kakashi?"  
Jiraiya scoffed as Kakashi continued his evaluation. "It was about what you'd expect from a 6 year old that just entered the Academy. That may even be a generous assumption."

Jiraiya chuckled. "That's because it _was_ a 6 year old's Academy Taijutsu. Naruto wouldn't use his normal style in a friendly fight for fear of killing you, Kakashi."

Kakashi's single eye widened at that. He was not expecting an answer like that from Jiraiya.

"Well, the rest of his performance wasn't very exceptional, either." Kakashi continued. "While his use of a certain _defensively offensive_ jutsu surprised me," Kakashi glanced briefly to Jiraiya, "he still fell for a simple trapped bell."

"Unlikely," Jiraiya countered. "It was probably a shadow clone designed to trap the trapper. No doubt you were attacked once you went to retrieve the bell, Kakashi?"

Kakashi frowned under his mask. "Well, yes, but I had purposely let my guard down to draw out Sasuke."

"And no doubt that worked," Jiraiya said, "but that probably messed with Naruto's own plan for you. You didn't think you had trapped Naruto so easily, did you?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, I, uhh… may have underestimated him somewhat." Kakashi finally conceded.

The Hokage smiled at Kakashi's embarrassment. "Don't worry, Kakashi. Jiraiya here doesn't even know how strong Naruto is and he's been with him all these years. Naruto makes himself seem weaker than he is to incite false confidence in his opponents."

The Hokage chuckled to himself, remembering how Naruto had taken down Mizuki because he had 'been rude to me, and I wanted him to apologize'.

"As a friendly note, Kakashi," the Hokage said, still smiling. "You don't want to get on Naruto's bad side. He's not as nice when he's angry."

Kakashi nodded, the revelations that Naruto had been holding back causing him to think back on the test and what had happened, how he was manipulated to feel as though he was in control.

"I will certainly remember that," Kakashi said.

The Hokage's smile grew bigger. "Another thing Kakashi; did they pass? You have said little on the team's performance as a whole."

"They passed," Kakashi confirmed. "While they didn't get the bells from me, they were mere seconds away from succeeding."

"They?" Jiraiya questioned. "I had no doubt Naruto would figure the test out eventually, but he's not exactly a team player. How did he get the Uchiha to work with him?"

"He didn't." Kakashi deadpanned. "It was Hinata he teamed up with. They worked quite well together, I must say."

"The Hyuuga?" Jiraiya asked, a look of curiosity crossing his face. Kakashi nodded, and went on to explain how Hinata had attacked Kakashi, how Naruto had ambushed him, and how they used the Byukugan to find him again to spring their final trap.

"And since Sasuke had come close to getting a bell on his own," Kakashi concluded, "I passed them."

"Most excellent," the Hokage said, now positively beaming. "It seems we have 3 teams achieving the ranks of Genin this year; Teams 7, 8 and 10. If that is all, Kakashi, you are dismissed."

Kakashi thought for a moment. "I believe all my suspicious and questions have been confirmed and answered. Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi bowed once again and left.

"It seems Naruto is now officially a Genin of Konohagakure." The Hokage said, turning to Jiraiya. "It will be interesting to see how he interacts with those around him."

"That reminds me," Jiraiya said, "I must tell Naruto when to meet with that hot Genjutsu specialist of yours. I can't have him missing his first date with a lady, now can I!" Jiraiya winked at the Hokage, a lecherous grin on his face.

The Hokage chuckled. "No, we can't have that. I will see you later, Jiraiya."

"Later, Sarutobi." Jiraiya called back, already half way out the window he thought of as the only exit.

* * *

Naruto was, unsurprisingly, bored. It didn't seem to take much, or uhh, it seemed to take too much to make him not bored these days? Either way, he had been watching his clone and Hinata sparing for a good 5 minutes, without Hinata taking any offensive stance against the clone. She was defending herself very well, but when it came to exploiting any opening the clone's attacks made, she did nothing. She had not taken a single step forward during the sparing session, a clear sign she was making no effort to attack the clone. So not only would she not initiate combat with the clone, she wouldn't even counter attack. She was forever on the defensive, and while she was good at being defensive, you cannot win by never attacking. 

Truthfully, Naruto was worried, and he rarely worried. He was worried because Hinata didn't seem to understand the need to be aggressive when the time is right. She didn't seem to realize that she would never win a real fight because she never attacked. She seemed content to defend, forever. Yes, he worried. He worried because he _needed_ Hinata to attack in order to gain knowledge of the Jyuuken style. Naruto was gaining nothing by sparing with her like this, and neither was Hinata. It was pointless. As he continued to watch, Naruto felt an emotion he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Frustration.

He was frustrated. Frustration is an emotion Naruto did not like feeling. It meant he was doing something, or trying to achieve something, that he either couldn't or wasn't able to do or achieve. It caused his insides to knot to see something so pitiful, so worthless, so wasteful when it held such potential. Hinata's true potential was not being expressed because of whatever it was that was preventing Hinata from attacking, asserting herself, confidently attacking back. Naruto knew now what Itachi thought and felt when he saw Naruto bleeding to death those long years ago. A waste of potential. It was the idea of something that could be great being reduced to nothing. Itachi had seen it, he had seen the potential Naruto had, and he knew that without intervention it would go to waste. He made a decision, and acted upon it.

Naruto knew now what he needed to do. You only feel frustrated when you feel powerless, when you know no actions you take will make a difference. Naruto needn't feel this emotion. He knew now what was holding Hinata back; preventing her from excelling. It was the same thing preventing Naruto from acquiring knowledge essential to his growth in power. It was Hinata's passive nature.

_Passive._ Naruto almost spat the word out, it tasted terrible in his mental mouth. You gain nothing from being _passive_. It prevents you from being aggressive, outgoing, assertive, confident in your decisions and decisive in your actions. You choose only to defend when being confronted, or back away entirely. 'Avoid confrontation at all cost', that would the motto of _passive_ if a word could have one. But there are times when even _passive_ natured people are forced to act, the result being Hinata's hesitant, indecisive attacks on Kakashi. She would press forward, then hesitant and withdraw her attack, as if second guessing her decision. Naruto knew now that Hinata only agreed to his plan because it was easier for a person of her _passive _nature to agree with another's decisions rather than make her own, or oppose the decision of others.

Naruto decided that he would do what Itachi did; take what has potential and make sure that potential was realized.

'Let's try a few subtle hints, shall we?' Naruto thought, mind clear and focused, aware of the… _motivations _he might need to employ to break Hinata's passive nature.

"Oi, Hinata." Naruto called out, his decision final. "You need to attack the clone; you can't win battles just by defending!"

If Hinata had heard him, she didn't give any indication, nor did her defensive actions change.

'Okay, subtle hint #2'.

A second clone appeared beside the first and started attacking Hinata with the same, sloppy attacks the first one used. Hinata's eyes widened and she stumbled back slightly as the second joined the first, but soon regained her stance and adequately defended against both clones, still neglecting to press any advantage she had.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled, "You've got to attack sometime or else you might get overwhelmed! Press any advantage you see!"

Hinata nodded this time, making some weak offensive moves on the clones, none of which fatal enough to dispel the clones.

'Well, that was slightly better I guess. Time for subtle hint #3'.

Yet another clone appeared, this time behind Hinata. It thrust a rough kick into her lower back, sending the young Hyuuga stumbling forward into the two clones in front of her. The clones, admittedly, weren't expecting the lithe girl to come forward at them and backed away quickly, expecting some form of counterattack from the girl, but none came.

Naruto frowned as he watched. The clones had hesitated, but Hinata had not pressed the advantage. She instead took the time the face all three clones and took up the same old defensive position.

"Hinata!" Naruto once again yelled out. "You must press any advantage, do not hesitate!" Words from Itachi echoed through Naruto's head. "Every time you hesitate your enemy gets another chance to kill you, and their reinforcements are that much closer! Do not think, just act! Never second guess yourself!"

Hinata, who now looked extremely confused and startled, nodded once again. She didn't have any idea what Naruto was trying to do, but she thought it best to just follow his advice and do what he said.

'Let's try subtle hint #4'

Yet another clone appeared behind Hinata, once again sending a rough kick into her lower back. This time, however, the other clones did not back away. Instead, they each rushed forward and thrust their clenched fists into Hinata's stomach in turn, causing Hinata's small form to hunch over, gasping for breath. Her eyes widened as the clone behind her took her hunched form as a sign of weakness, rushing from behind and dropping an elbow on her exposed neck. Hinata collapsed to her knees, clutching her stomach, tears forming in her eyes lavender eyes.

Naruto sighed at his clones' antics. 'Oh boy.'

Dismissing his clones, Naruto went over to Hinata. Placing his hands on her shoulders, and causing Hinata to flinch, Naruto forced Hinata to look into his eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry." He admitted. "I guess I got carried away, and I didn't really explain what I was trying to do with you. I took you by surprised and I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry for doing so."

Hinata looked away and was silent for several moments.

**'Hahahaha, what did you do to her?' **Kyuubi's demonic voice questioned happily.

'Shut it, fox. Weren't you sleeping?' Naruto cursed.

**'I was, but the cries of children are like music to my ears, I couldn't help but see what the commotion was all about.'** Kyuubi admitted.

'Just wonderful. As for what happened, I messed up. I'll probably never get her to trust me again.' Naruto thought back, dismayed.

**'Sure looks like it. Nice to see you're such a hit with the ladies.' **Kyuubi chuckled.

'_Well, she certainly got the "hit" part right' _Naruto cursed to himself.

"Y-you were right," Hinata said softly, so softly Naruto barely heard her despite his close proximity. "I sh-should have attacked, I should have d-done what you sa-said –"

"No!" Naruto interrupted, shaking the startled girl in his arms. "You shouldn't do something just because someone tells you to! You should evaluate what they tell you, form your own decisions on what to do, and act on your own!" Naruto seemed to realize what he was doing, and stopped yelling at and shaking the startled girl.

Naruto took his hands off the girl's shoulders and sat beside Hinata. "You said you wanted to be a strong leader of your clan, right?" Naruto asked, looking at the young Hyuuga's face. She no longer had tears in her eyes, but was still struggling to breathe evenly, and still looked shaken.

Hinata nodded, but then spoke. "I want to b-be s-strong, but ev-everyone knows I'm w-weak. The c-clan Elders, they want to make m-my yo-younger sister Hanabi Heir." Hinata's eyes became downcast and clouded. "Such a t-thing has ne-never been pro-proposed before.

"Why would you let that happen?" Naruto asked, shocked. It was the way of every noble family that the eldest is the Heir and would inherit; such a proposal was unheard of, in any noble family.

"Th-the Elders, they –" Hinata started, only to be cut off by Naruto.

"Screw the Elders! Why would _you_ let that happen? You're weak now, so what? You don't have to stay that way, Hinata! You can't let everyone else make your decisions for you!" Naruto's voice became softer. "You have to make a stand sometime, why not now? We can help each other, and together we can become stronger."

"B-but, I'm so weak." Hinata despaired. "Hanabi is stronger than m-me."

Naruto smiled at Hinata. "You're not weak, Hinata. You have so much potential; you're a member of the Hyuuga after all. You're only as weak as you allow yourself to be. You have to stop letting others make decisions for you, and you have to assert yourself with confidence, and attack with certainty."

"D-do you really think so?" Hinata asked, unsure of herself and her potential.

Naruto gave Hinata his most confident smile. "I do. If you want, we can continue our training together, and I can help your realize this."

"Ar-are you sure?" Hinata hesitantly replied.

"Don't ask me, ask yourself." Naruto responded. "You shouldn't let others make decisions for you; be your own person and make your own decisions. How are you going to lead your clan if you only act on other people's decisions? You must listen to what people say and come to your own conclusions."

Hinata was silent once again, thinking over everything Naruto had said. If it was true Naruto could make her realize what was holding her back, she would be forever grateful. She truly wanted to be a strong leader of her clan, but no one thought she was able to. Naruto did, he seemed certain of it. But, Hinata realized, it was her decision to make and no one else's.

**'Well it seems you rectified the situation well. Next time don't screw it up to begin with, moron." **Kyuubi said, her presence vanishing before Naruto could reply.

Hinata finally reached her decision. "I will train with you, Naruto-kun. Together we will become stronger."

Naruto beamed. Standing, he withdrew a kunai from his weapons pouch and carved into the grassy field a circle, roughly 2 meters in diameter.

Turning back to Hinata, Naruto offered his hand to her, which she quickly took. Pulling the lithe Hyuuga to her feet, Naruto 'explained' his idea.

"_Don't leave the circle_. It's that simple. If you trust me, Hinata, and believe that this will help you, it will."

Hinata nodded. "I trust you, Na-Naruto-kun. H-how long will this last?"

"You'll know when you've passed." Naruto smiled.

If Hinata was confused, she gave no indication, simply nodding and standing in the center of the circle.

As she turned to face Naruto again, shuriken flew past her face so close she could hear the faint noise they gave off. Surprised, she looked at Naruto who was now throwing several kunai in a fluid motion at her. Dodging to the side, Hinata successfully avoided all the objects, only to feel a sharp stinging in her lower left leg. Looking down, she saw a small cut in her leg; evidently a kunai had just past her, taking some skin with it. She soon noticed another Naruto behind her, now also throwing kunai and shuriken. Not knowing what to do, she was about to run from the circle when Naruto's words stopped her; _don't leave the circle._ Whatever happened, Hinata was going to pass Naruto's test and become strong, for her and her clan's sake.

Naruto began talking as he threw his shuriken. "All your life you've been told what to do, what to think, how to act. Isn't that right, Hinata?" Naruto threw a kunai with an attached explosive note at Hinata. It missed, flying past and exploding in the ground a good distance away.

"_Don't leave the circle._" Naruto warned. "You haven't needed to assert yourself, have you? Everything is done for you." Kunai continued to fly, many Hinata only just managing to avoid, a few scratching her skin.

"_Don't leave the circle."_ Naruto continued. "You never need to think for yourself, you do whatever you are told to do." One shuriken imbedded itself in the sleeve of Hinata's cream jacket, a close call.

"_Don't leave the circle._" Naruto again warned. "Normally, doing what you're told and without question would be called _discipline_, but with you, Hinata, and your passive nature, it is a way to avoid conflict, a way to avoid asserting yourself, a way to avoid making your own decisions. Not what is wanted in a leading figure at all, not what is wanted in a Clan leader. You do what you're told, without thinking for yourself."

Naruto created another clone, and the number of shuriken and kunai that started flying through the air was beginning to overwhelm the Hyuuga girl.

_"Don't leave the circle._" Remind Naruto, but his voice changed. It became somewhat softer as he continued.. "Why is it, Hinata, that you don't leave the circle? It is because I told you to? You should do what you think is right, you cannot always do what others tell you. You must decide for yourself what is right and act upon those decisions. How can you lead your clan when others make your decisions for you?"

Hinata was tiring. The rain of shuriken and kunai was beginning to overwhelm her. _Don't leave the circle_, that's what Naruto was telling her. But she wanted to, so badly, but he was telling her otherwise. It would be easier to just do what was said. But, those damn clones were so annoying, just a short distance away – just outside the circle, she could almost feel her palm impacting into their chests. But she couldn't leave the circle.

Why couldn't she leave the circle?

A determined look crossed her face. It was clear to her now. Everything Naruto had said made sense to her. She was weak only because she let herself be weak. _Don't leave the circle_ – that was the story of her life, she never left the comfort of her circle, and always avoided what came to her rather than leaving her circle and making _it _avoid _her._ She always went with what others wanted, went with the flow of things, so she didn't seem like a rock in the river, disrupting the flow and standing out.

But now, it was time to make a stand – time to leave her circle of comfort for good. She would take what came at her and use it for her own means, no longer avoid it completely. She would make her own decisions from now on, and act upon them without hesitation or second thought. _Don't leave the circle, huh? Screw the circle!_

Hinata abruptly left the circle, dodging her way to one of Naruto's clones and swiftly dispatching it with swift burst of chakra out of her palm as it impacted into its chest. Naruto smiled as he gained the clone's memories of the attack, impressed by its power.

As Hinata turned and charged towards the other clone, Naruto saw the Byakugan had manifested itself in her eyes. Reaching the clone, she parried the sloppy punch the clone had sent at her, and, taking advantage of the large opening to the chest to punch had left, thrust her palm forward, the ferocity of the attack visible as a burst of chakra visibly erupted out of the clone's back.

Panting, Hinata turned to Naruto, the determined look on her face just about enough to make Naruto take a step back; he was _almost_ worried she would now attack him. His fears were unwarranted, however, as she simply gave Naruto a small smile before falling to her knees, exhausted.

Smiling, Naruto walked over to her. The display she had put on was more impressive than he could have ever hoped for. Naruto knew now what Itachi had felt when he had completed his own circle test – the feeling of knowing you have forever changed someone for the better.

Placing a hand on her slouched shoulder, Naruto looked down to see Hinata had her eyes closed, was breathing easily and had a small smile on her face. Naruto couldn't help but think she looked… cute. Not a word he used often.

Sighing, Naruto looked to the sky to see that it had been only 2 hours since the team had officially been passed. Naruto was surprised at this; he thought he had been here with Hinata longer than that. Sitting beside his sleeping team mate, he took the time reflect on what had transpired today. He had met that Tenten girl, thought of a new weapon to master, grown accustom to his Akaigan, become a Genin of the village that despised him, and found an unlikely training partner in one Hyuuga Hinata. All this, and it was barely passed midday.

_'What else could happen today?'_ Naruto thought, laying on the grass and looking to the sky, sunlight shining brightly down on him. He wasn't even aware that he himself was falling asleep.

* * *

Chapter ends here----- 

Victory! I think that was less than 7 days. _And you guys didn't believe me!_

Anyway, this chapter was finished a few days ago but I was unable to upload it to because I was getting some strange error. I managed to figure out a way around that, though, by editing an existing chapter, copy/pasting this one over it, and saving the edited chapter as chapter 11! i r teh smartz.

If there's anything wrong with the formatting of this chapter it will be because it's a copy/paste job. I will also blame any bad grammar or misspelt words on that, kekeke.

As for the chapter content itself, I'm not sure what to say. You guys tell me if it's any good, because to me it just feels... different from the other chapters. I don't know why.

Oh well, I must thank my old readers once again for putting up with my terrible updating speed, and also welcome my new readers! I hope to update within 7 days again, let's see if I can do it!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Naruto woke, instantly aware someone was near. Feigning sleep, he soon realized who the intruder was. Opening his eyes and sitting up, Naruto watched Jiraiya cross the training field.

"Yo, Naruto!" Jiraiya greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"You need to meet that Genjutsu specialist later today," Jiraiya said, handing Naruto a note with a place and time written on it. "You're lucky, there's nothing like having a hot date on a hot day!" Jiraiya said, grinning.

Looking at the sleeping Hyuuga beside Naruto, Jiraiya chuckled. "Though it looks like you already have one, eh Naruto?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "We were training, Ero-sennin."

"'Training', eh? So that's what they call it these days, is it?" Jiraiya asked, interested. "It was 'sparring' back in my day. Never did any 'sparring' with Tsunade, though. She never… liked the idea." Jiraiya added with a shudder.

"What is the specialist's name, anyway?" Naruto questioned, ignoring Jiraiya's meaningless comments.

"What? Her name?" Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "Since they're usually gone in the morning, I never bother remembering names…" Jiraiya trailed off, eventually shrugging. "I can't remember."

"You're useless, Ero-sennin." Naruto stated. "Do you at least know what she looks like?"

Naruto instantly regretted asking that question as Jiraiya launched into a detailed physical description of the woman, covering everything from hair color to clothing size, height to shoe size, eye color to cup size, and even mentioned various likes and dislikes of the woman.

'**I hate that man.'**

'Same.' Naruto agreed with Kyuubi. How Jiraiya knew all this information Naruto didn't know. Nor did he _want_ to know.

'**You should let me out sometime, Naruto-kun. I'm sure I can… persuade him to show more respect to females.' **Kyuubi said evilly. For some reason Naruto got a mental image of fox licking its jowls.

'_Let _you_ out?'_ Naruto exclaimed mentally. 'Why would I even consider that? Besides, I don't think the seal on my stomach would allow you to be free, even if I wanted to "let you out".'

'**I didn't mean letting my whole being out, just my mind.'** Kyuubi explained.

'Why didn't I think of that?' Naruto thought sarcastically. 'Please explain how I'm going to let your mind out of my stomach, Kyuu-chan. I'm having a hard time picturing a corporal form of your mind. Is it like a ghost?'

'**You will create a body for my mind to inhabit using that clone technique you're so fond of.' **Kyuubi said simply.

'Oh, so all I need to do is modify an extremely advanced and forbidden technique so that instead of creating a clone of myself, I create a clone of the demon inhabiting my body? Sounds simply, when do we start?'

'**As soon as we're alone.' **Kyuubi said simply.

'Did you somehow miss the _subtle_ sarcasm in my last question?' Naruto asked with his mental eyes narrowed in disbelief. Outwardly, he patiently listened to Jiraiya continue his description of the woman he was to meet later that day. Naruto had learnt over the years that the best thing to do when Jiraiya got in to the state he was currently in was to listen, nod occasionally and wait for it to pass.

'**No, but you won't need to change the technique at all. If you use my chakra for the technique, I'll be able to do the rest.'**

'It can't be that simple.'

'**It will be.'**

Naruto didn't reply, as Jiraiya had finally run out of material.

"Black hair, red eyes?" Naruto said. "I got it, Ero-sennin."

"Make sure you remember the rest, too." Jiraiya said. His features became serious as he continued.

"Anyway, Naruto, you need to be careful in Konoha, especially around some people." Jiraiya's eyes came to rest on the still sleeping Hinata as he said this. "If anything were to come out, questions would be asked, which would only lead to more questions. None in the village other than the Third know the truth, but the Council is still looking for any reason at all to have you removed from the village. Their opinion of you is even worse than I suspected, and the Third's power can only extend so far."

"I know." Naruto said simply. He was aware of the danger he was in while he was in Konoha, especially from the Hyuuga clan. Their influence over the Council and their obsession over protecting their bloodline secrets put Naruto in a lot of danger, considering what he knew and what he was trying hard to find out.

Jiraiya nodded. He knew how good Naruto was at keeping secrets. Jiraiya turned to leave, but stopped, as if remembering something.

"Naruto, I'm leaving you alone for a while." Jiraiya said abruptly. "Learn what you can from Kakashi, and stay out of trouble. I'll be back in a few months to check up on you."

Naruto was surprised. He had expected Jiraiya to stay in the village longer than a day, after all he been away for over 10 years.

"Research trip, Ero-sennin?" Naruto questioned. "I thought you said there was plenty of excellent 'research material' in Konoha, why leave so soon?"

Jiraiya sighed. "As much as I'd love to stay, I must put my book on hold for a while longer. The Third has alerted me to a threat that cannot go unchecked."

Jiraiya turned back to face Naruto, a grim look on his face. "Over the past few years, an organization called Akatsuki has been rising in power, and their activities have become more obvious. While I don't yet know their plans, I do know the group consists entirely of S-class criminals, one being Orochimaru. I cannot let anything involving Orochimaru go unchecked as it has been."

Naruto nodded, knowing of Jiraiya's concerns about Orochimaru. "I understand, Ero-sennin. Have fun on your trip."

Jiraiya gave Naruto a weak smile, turning to leave once again. Looking back, he called over his shoulder to Naruto. "Don't be late for your date; it's not nice to keep a lady waiting!"

"Hai, Ero-sennin." Naruto said automatically, watching Jiraiya leave with a blank look on his face. '_Akatsuki, huh? That was the name of the organization Itachi-sensei went to join. I wonder how he's doing…"_

Looking down at the piece of paper in his hand that Jiraiya had given him, he saw that he still had an hour before he had to meet the Genjutsu specialist. Deciding it would be best to head home and wash up before he went on his 'date', he bent down to wake the exhausted Hyuuga girl.

"Oi, Hinata!" Naruto said, gently shaking the girl's shoulder. The girl responded by making some sleepy noises and stirring at little, but did not wake. "Come on Hinata, you can't sleep out here in the open!"

Naruto shook the girl lightly again, this time causing the girl to slowly waken.

Opening her eyes slowly and blinking rapidly to get the sleep out, Hinata let out a small 'eep!' of surprise as Naruto's face slowly came into focus mere inches from her own. Sitting up, startled, Hinata took a moment to gather her thoughts on where she was and how she got there. As the day's events slowly came back to her, she relaxed at little and let out a soft yawn.

"H-how long was I asleep for?" Hinata asked Naruto.

"About 2 hours," Naruto replied. A worried look crossed Hinata's face, and she quickly stood.

"I-I need to get home." Hinata mumbled, anxious. "Fa-father will be f-furious I am late."

"Oh, well, that was my fault." Naruto admitted. "Let me walk you home and I can explain to him what happened."

Hinata looked surprised at that. No one ever wanted to meet her father. "B-but-"

"It's no trouble at all!" Naruto interrupted, smiling as wide as he could. Hinata merely nodded.

* * *

'**You're walking her home,'** Kyuubi observed incredulously. 

'I need to continue to gain her trust,' Naruto said, walking beside Hinata through the streets of Konoha. 'Besides, it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction I get from her father. If he sees me simply as you, dear Kyuu-chan, he will do everything in his power to keep me away from Hinata, and that would complicate my plans greatly. In fact, it would probably make them impossible. It would be best to find out what he's like now and plan for any complications.'

Walking through the streets, Naruto noticed he was getting some all too familiar looks from some of the villagers. It was clear the word of his return and a description of him had spread through the villagers. Naruto felt a subtle feeling of contempt rise in his being, but controlled it easily. He had to behave to achieve his goals.

Naruto continued his train of thought as more villagers sent suspicious and hateful looks at him. 'Trying to hide our relationship would appear suspicious; the best thing to do is hide it in plain sight. People won't think twice about two team mates training together once in a while. But the Kyuubi vessel having secret training sessions with the Hyuuga heir? That would arouse unacceptable amounts of suspicion. I can almost hear the accusations of the demon manipulating the innocent young girl who is blissfully ignorant to the demon's true intentions.'

'**But that's exactly what this is.' **Kyuubi muttered.

Naruto smirked mentally. 'True. But if I don't hide it, it won't be seen that way.'

'**The lengths you'll go to in order to get stronger' **Kyuubi said, shaking her great head in disbelief at Naruto's intentions. **'I love you for it.' **Naruto hid a smile behind his high collar.

Hinata was good at reading faces. It was something that almost seemed innate in Hyuuga members, and while Hinata wasn't as gifted as some, for example her cousin Neji, her reading abilities was above an average person's. She recognized that something was different in the faces of some of the villagers - something she didn't like. She had no idea what it was that was different, however. She noticed some of the villagers had smiles on their faces as they turned to face her, and their smiles quickly faded as their eyes fell on her and Naruto. It was a strange occurrence, something she had not experienced before. She was unsure of what to make of it, and looked at Naruto to see how he was reacting to the looks they were receiving. Although she could not fully see Naruto's face due to his high collar, Hinata could tell he was smiling. Curious as to what he was so happy about, Hinata broke the comfortable silence.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, breaking Naruto out of the trance he appeared to be in.

"Hmm? What is it, Hinata?" Naruto asked, turning to look at Hinata.

"A-ano, I was just wondering why you were smiling." Hinata questioned hesitantly.

Naruto's smile became bigger. "I was just smiling at how fortunate I have been to have had such good company this afternoon." Naruto replied easily.

"O-oh." Hinata mumbled, looking down. "I didn't th-think I was very good company."

"You _are_ good company, Hinata." Naruto encouraged. "I'd love to train with you as much as possible." Kyuubi's laughter sounded through Naruto's mind as he said that.

Hinata smiled softly. She enjoyed Naruto's company, and his encouragement and confident manner inspired her to be more confident herself. As the Hyuuga complex came into view, however, the impending meeting with her father whittled away the confidence Naruto's presence built. She expected her father to be furious with her, and possibly Naruto. She was not expecting the reaction she did get when they finally met.

Hiashi, Naruto observed when they met by chance just outside the gates to the Hyuuga complex, was completely indifferent to Hinata's return. He almost seemed annoyed that Hinata had returned, and would probably have passed without acknowledging her arrival had Hinata not spoken to him.

"Tadaima, otou-sama." Hinata mumbled, bowing to her father. She indicated to Naruto. "This is my team mate, Naruto."

Hiashi seemed to notice them both for the first time as Hinata said this. "Naruto?" Hiashi spoke, his voice deep. He did not seem overly concerned with Naruto, or look at him with any malice. "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto nodded, bowing. "I'm sorry for keeping your daughter away for so long, Hyuuga-sama." Naruto apologized. "After we passed our Genin test, I asked if Hinata would train with me as we worked well as a team."

Hiashi looked to Hinata, noticing the girl's ragged appearance for the first time. Various cuts, scraps and holes in the girl's clothing stood out to him.

Hiashi, however, ignored Naruto's apology, almost spitting out his next words. "I do not care what this weakling does, as she is no daughter of mine. Worst scores in her class, and she dares to carry the Hyuuga name? She is weaker than Hanabi, 5 years her junior. Hinata is under the tutorage of Hatake Kakashi now, and what she does in her spare time is no concern of mine." At that, Hiashi walked swiftly passed the two stunned Genin, leaving them standing in silence.

'Well, now I know why Hinata has no confidence.' Naruto thought. 'But it looks as though her father has given me free reign to do as I please with Hinata.'

"Looks like he doesn't mind us training together, Hinata!" Naruto joked, trying to make light of an uncomfortable situation.

"Ha-hai," Hinata mumbled, eyes once again looking downward. It was clear her father's words had hit her hard.

"Hey," Naruto said, getting Hinata to look at him. "You're strong, Hinata. It's just that attitude of yours that was holding you back, right?" Naruto waited for Hinata to nod before continuing. "And now that you know that, you'll be able to get even stronger. We can do it together, Hinata. We can show everyone you are worth being heir to the Hyuuga clan."

"You're right, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. Her back was now straight, her head held high, and she had a look of confidence in her eyes. "I'll show them all that I'm worthy of the name Hyuuga Hinata."

* * *

'**That was really smooth, Naruto-kun.' **Kyuubi stated as Naruto walked away from the Hyuuga complex after saying goodbye to Hinata. **'How did you get so good with the ladies?'**

'I was with Ero-sennin for 3 years, Kyuu-chan.' Naruto said simply.

'**True enough.' **Kyuubi conceded. **'But that fake persona you use with the Hyuuga girl is flawless.' **Kyuubi said.** 'Do you practice it in the mirror when I'm sleeping?'** she asked suspiciously.

'No,' Naruto said. 'It is similar to the personality I had before I met Itachi-sensei. It was a mask I used to fool those around me, and myself, into thinking I was happy. It prevented me from falling into depression. It obviously works a similar way with her.'

Naruto was now on his way to meet with the Genjutsu specialist at Training Field 13. He had had to walk half way across Konoha to the Hyuuga complex, half way again to his own home to wash up, and now back to the training fields to walk Hinata home and make it for his 'date', but it had been worth the effort in Naruto's mind. He had ensured his training with Hinata would go mostly unchallenged, and furthered the bond between himself and the young girl with the promise they would both become stronger together.

Naruto arrived at the training ground at same time the specialist did. She was an attractive woman, appearing to be in her late twenties. She sported a strange garb looking almost as though she was wrapped in bandages. Only remembering from Jiraiya's extensive physical description of the woman that she had black hair and red eyes, Naruto concluded that this woman was the Genjutsu specialist. Naruto seemed to recall her being one of the Jounin that took a Genin team at the Academy.

"You must be Naruto," she said as they came to a halt in front of each other. "I'm Yuuhi Kurenai. I understand from Jiraiya-sama that you are interested in Genjutsu?"

"I am." Naruto said. "More to the point, I need to know how to counter it." Naruto added seriously.

Kurenai chuckled. "Jiraiya-sama told me you wouldn't beat around when it came to training. I see now what he meant. We may as well get started then."

Kurenai began by telling Naruto about the basics of Genjutsu, going over things Naruto mostly knew but there were things new to Naruto that were worth taking note of. "Basic Genjutsu is designed to cripple the senses by using the target's own chakra to make them see things, or feel things that are not real, causing the user to gain the upper hand while the target is paralyzed with fear, phantom pains or fighting off illusions."

Naruto nodded, and Kurenai continued. "These scare tactics and illusions will not work against skilled opponents. As soon as they're caught in Genjutsu, they will realize it and quickly do what it takes to escape. This is, no doubt, what you are hear to learn and become able to do."

Naruto once again nodded and Kurenai continued her explanation. "A skilled Genjutsu user, however, will be invisible, as you will not know you're caught. They will manipulate you; make you feel as though you have control when in reality they are leading you into a trap which there is absolutely no escape. They will not make a move until it is certain their victory is inevitable. This is the type of Genjutsu user I inspire to be, but I am a long way from that dream.

"True Genjutsu masters are extremely rare. They require impossible amounts of patience, inhuman chakra control and incredible intelligence. They are rarely heard of and almost thought to be a myth, but this is only because when you meet them you are already under their spell and are not aware of what is going on. Those that fight Genjutsu masters do not live to tell the tale or their mental mind will be in no way capable of coherent thought."

This interested Naruto, but he did not delude himself with dreams of becoming a Genjutsu master. In fact, he did not plan on learning any Genjutsu from Kurenai, only ways to counter it.

Kurenai sighed. "I will never be a master, only a specialist; but always remember, Naruto, that you can never be sure that you actions are free, there is always a possibility you are being manipulated, and you have know way of knowing."

It was a thought provoking statement for Naruto. How could he know he wasn't being manipulated? He couldn't. Maybe the fox…

'**You know I'm not, Naruto-kun.' **Kyuubi said sounding almost hurt. **'And besides, I know you better than anyone. People might be able to manipulate you, but they will never be able to manipulate me. I will tell you if you're ever trapped in Genjutsu and don't realize it.'**

Naruto was thankful for Kyuubi's reassurance. 'Still, I'd like to know how to counter recognize and counter Genjutsu for myself.' Naruto thought back. 'You never know, one day I might rid myself of your presence and need the skills Kurenai can teach me.'

'**You can't get rid of me, Naruto-kun. And I know you don't want to. Admit it,'** Kyuubi cooed, **'you love me.'**

Naruto wasn't even going to entertain the thought, and Kurenai was still explaining things to him. "There are a few ways to counter Genjutsu once you know you're under its effects. You can disrupt your own chakra flow, which causes the user's control over your chakra to break. Some Genjutsu are too strong for this, and then usually intense pain is the only way to break out of it. I will show you the standard ways of breaking Genjutsu and defending against it, if you're ready Naruto."

Naruto nodded, liking the attitude of the woman. She got to the action quickly, which was what Naruto wanted. Naruto spent the next hour learning and practicing the recognition and dispelling of Genjutsu. Confident with his ability, Naruto asked Kurenai to put him under various weak Genjutsu to see if he could recognize and dispel the techniques. Naruto found it quite easy to dispel the most basic forms of Genjutsu and asked Kurenai to continue on to more advanced techniques.

'This is quite simple.' Naruto thought as he quickly muttered "Kai!" dispelling himself from yet another of Kurenai's Genjutsu.

'**It's because my chakra is in your chakra system.' **Kyuubi revealed. **'She cannot manipulate it with this level of technique, so something always seems wrong to you. You recognize it as Genjutsu, and dispel it.'**

'I see. So she needs to use something more advanced?'

Deciding, Naruto asked Kurenai to use one of her more powerful techniques.

Kurenai initially objected. "You're doing surprisingly well, I'll admit Naruto, but I don't think you're quite ready for the more advanced stuff yet."

"I should know how powerful and hard these techniques can be." Naruto objected. "It's better to encounter them now and recognize them than later on the battle field when it's life or death."

Kurenai thought for a moment. It _would_ be better to know the extent of a Genjutsu's power in a training situation. "Very well, Naruto. Let's see how you do with this." Quickly making several hand seals, Kurenai shouted "**Magen: Jubaku Satsu**" (Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death).

Instantly, Kurenai faded from view in front of Naruto, and a tree grew rapidly from behind him, its branches reaching out and immobilizing his arms and legs, preventing him from moving or creating hand seals to dispel the Genjutsu.

'Well, this is interesting.' Naruto thought as the branches tightened, another appearing and snaking its way around his neck, restricting his breathing. Naruto forced himself to bite his tongue, trying to create enough pain to dispel the illusion. It proved futile, only managing to bring tears to his eyes which he forcefully repressed. As the branch around his neck continued to tighten its death grip, Naruto found it increasingly hard to breathe. 'This sucks.' He concluded, thinking hard, trying to find a way to break free of the Genjutsu.

'**Just activate your Akaigan'** Kyuubi said, amused at the prediciment Naruto had got himself in. **'Even this level of technique should be dispelled by the amount of my chakra concentrated to the eyes when you activate your Akaigan.'**

Naruto did so, and the trees and branches suddenly became ethereal to look at, the illusionary nature becoming extremely evident. While the visual illusion was mostly dispelled, Naruto could still feel the branch constricting his air ways. He could now see Kurenai calmly watching him struggle to breathe, watching him fight to break the illusion she had put him under.

'**Well, try activating the second level of your Akaigan. This Genjutsu seems to be stronger than I thought.' **Kyuubi said. **'Though maybe you're just weaker than I thought… I could just dispel it for you.'**

'Damn fox.' Naruto spat back. 'How do I activate the second level?'

'**Same way you activate the first level, just use more chakra.'** Kyuubi said, as if it was obvious. **'The strain in your eyes will be greater, of course, since there's even more of my chakra concentrated there.'**

Naruto did as he was told. He willed the fox's chakra to his eyes as he did to active it the first time, but this time drew upon more of it. As he did so, he heard someone screaming. Whoever it was must have been in an incredible amount of pain, for the screams were loud, piercing even Naruto's cold demure. He had heard a lot of people scream in pain before, but never like this. It sent a shiver up his spine. It took but a moment more to realize that he was the one that was screaming. Blinding light assaulted his vision, the world's colors magnified and enhanced by demonic chakra. Naruto found he was unable to close his eyes despite the searing, indescribable pain it caused him to simple look at the world. He threw his head back, the Genjutsu dispelled by the incredible pain he had experienced. Clutching his head, he let out another scream to the sky, unable to manage the pain despite all his training.

Clouds drifted lazily overhead, unconcerned with the screams of the young boy far below. Naruto's vision, naturally drawn to the clouds' movements, made the mistake of focusing on the clouds. Naruto's vision slam-zoomed forward, his vision field suddenly taking in the minute details of the water droplets that the clouds were made of, as if looking through binoculars or a microscope. The droplets reminded him of tears. He hadn't cried in years, not since he found out that a great demon had been sealed inside him. But now he could feel hot tears roll down his cheeks. He willed the pain to stop, but was unable to form any other coherent thought, unable to think of a way to make it stop.

As abruptly as the pain came, it ended. Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees, panting. He tried to calm his breathing, taking time gather his thoughts. He tried to wipe his tears away, only to have his hands come away covered in blood.

Naruto laughed, relieved. He hadn't been crying, his eyes were merely bleeding. He sighed, his breathing now calm. Standing, his vision fell on the shocked looking Kurenai.

'Well that is going to be hard to explain.' Naruto thought. The entire ordeal hard taken mere seconds, but the display was certainly enough to shock the unprepared Jounin. One moment the boy was fighting her Jutsu, almost breaking her hold, the next he was screaming at the sky, blood pouring from his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Kurenai asked after a moment, recovering from the shock slightly.

Naruto shrugged. "I should be."

"Are you sure?" Kurenai pressed, she didn't know what to make of the display.

"Yeah," Naruto said, forcing a smile.

Naruto could see Kurenai didn't believe him. She would want some explanation for his outburst, to be sure. Naruto thought quickly, trying to think of a believable explanation, one that wouldn't create further questions.

"It's a developing bloodline limit," Naruto finally said, answering Kurenai's unasked question. "As you can see, I haven't quite mastered it yet." He added his voice thick with irony.

"So I see." Kurenai replied, seemingly accepting his explanation. "I guess that does it for our training. There's really nothing more I can teach you unless you want to learn offensive Genjutsu and not just ways to defend against it. The best thing for you to do would be to practice and advance the defenses you know."

Naruto nodded. Kurenai continued. "You were close to breaking free from that last technique... before you activated your bloodline. It is quite impressive how easily you find defending against Genjutsu. I wouldn't want to fight against you."

Naruto thanked Kurenai for the compliment and training, continuing the trivial conversations with Kurenai while internally conversing with his demonic friend.

'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!' Naruto screamed mentally.

'**I warned you that your eyes might explode if you channeled too much chakra to them.'** Kyuubi defended.

'But you still suggested I activate a higher level!' Naruto fumed.

'**Well I stopped the pain and repaired the damage afterwards, didn't I?' **Kyuubi argued. **'Maybe you should stop accepting my powers so casually!'**

'Maybe if you just stayed in your cage all the time this wouldn't happen!' Naruto spat back.

Naruto instantly regretted saying this as Kyuubi's presence vanished from his mind. That was about the most hateful thing Naruto could say to her. 'Kyuu-chan?' Naruto thought, knowing he would get no response. '_Damnit!'_

After asking one more time if Naruto was okay, Kurenai left Naruto to his thoughts. Deciding he had best go home and wash up, as blood was still on his face and hands Naruto slowly walked out of the training field. Trying to think of ways to tell Kyuubi he was sorry, Naruto could only think of one thing.

'_Maybe I should '_let her out'_ for a bit. If it's really as easy as she says it is, what harm could it do?'  
_

* * *

Chapter ends here------

Hah! Another chapter out, and in under six months! It might even have been under a week. Maybe.

Anyone, here's another chapter for my precious readers. Enjoy!

Hopefully you Hinata lovers won't be too angry at me. It's not like she isn't getting something out of the whole thing... right? Right._  
_


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Two days later, Kyuubi had still not talked to Naruto. Naruto had tried everything he could think of the get the fox's attention, even going into his mind and walking through the sewer-like corridors to Kyuubi's cage. He expected to have no problem talking to her in this way, but Naruto could not see Kyuubi through the bars of her cage. Although he would never admit it to her, Naruto missed the fox's company.

Naruto's first mission with Team 7 was a D-rank assignment that would have been better handled by 5-year-olds. Capturing an 'escaped' cat was about the most boring and pointless thing Naruto could think of a shinobi doing, short of watching grass grow. At least you could use a jutsu to make grass grow faster! Hinata's Byakugan made finding the cat easy, and their elite shinobi skills made apprehending the cat just as easy, but it was without a doubt the most boring and ultimately pointless mission Naruto had ever allowed himself to take part in.

The only upside to the mission was that he got Hinata to train with him afterwards, increasing his knowledge of the Jyuuken art. Naruto was quickly discovering exactly how precise the strikes must be in order for the Tenketsu of the victim to be opened or closed. It certainly required a strike that would be impossible without the Byakugan, and even then the strike would have to be executed with perfect accuracy otherwise only muscle damage would be caused, having similar effects as Naruto's own style. As Hinata had not activated her Byakugan in their training, Naruto had yet to discover the problems closing and opening each Tenketsu would cause as she had yet to do so. He intended to find out today when he met up with Hinata exactly what the affects would be.

There was one problem, however. Naruto was currently on a mission, and he doubted it would be completed anytime soon. The house wouldn't paint itself, no matter how much Naruto wanted it to.

"So… stupid…" Naruto muttered as he applied yet another coat of paint to the house he was ordered to repaint. "I can't believe I'm letting myself do this when I could be training!"

Sasuke, who was hurriedly painting the fence of the house white, grunted in agreement. He didn't like the blonde, but he couldn't help agreeing with his team mate as his thoughts were exactly the same. 'I can't kill Itachi by waving a paint brush at him!'

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke finally spoke up, stopping the monotonous up and down movements his arm was making.

Kakashi briefly looked towards the three Genin busily painting to show he was listening, before focusing his attention back on the 'book' he was 'reading'.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Kakashi said when it became apparent Sasuke hadn't caught his glance.

"Why are we doing these pointless missions?" Sasuke said in an annoyed tone. "We're shinobi, not painters."

"You're unproven Genin." Kakashi corrected. "We get requests every day for odd jobs such as this, and requests for assassinations, guard missions, and so on."

Kakashi turned a page. "We cannot send unproven shinobi such as yourselves on the more dangerous missions, so you're assigned tasks like this until you have proven yourselves strong shinobi of Konohagakure."

"By painting houses?" Naruto asked coldly.

Kakashi shrugged. "You have to start somewhere, Naruto."

"Acting as slave labor proves nothing, Hatake." Naruto said.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book. "It proves you're willing to do whatever Konoha requires you to do, however pointless it may seem. It also allows the three of you to work as a team to accomplish goals."

Naruto laughed mentally. _'If it weren't for the Hokage assigning all missions, I would assume these "missions" were just ways to test the Council's control over the newly returned "demon".'_

"These missions are especially significant for you, Naruto." Kakashi added. "You should do them without complaint."

Naruto acted as though he hadn't heard Kakashi, while mentally he muttered what he wanted to say. _'Because I need to prove I'm not the Kyuubi, right Hatake? Whatever happened to being "innocent until proven guilty"? Stupid Konoha.'_

Hinata, who had been methodically painting the window frames of the house, found Kakashi's comment about Naruto interesting.

"A-ano, Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata said.

"Yes, Hinata?" Kakashi said, lazily focusing his one visible eye on Hinata.

"Why is it significant for Naruto-kun to do these missions?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke had also been wondering the same thing. Naruto was on their team, so why should he get special consideration?

"Well…" Kakashi started, thinking. He couldn't tell them about the Kyuubi, which was the real reason it was important Naruto be seen as a good Konoha shinobi. "Naruto left Konoha 6 years ago, and since he has only returned recently we have to be sure he's ready to be a Konoha shinobi. These missions are a good way for Naruto to prove himself."

Hinata accepted the explanation and the team returned to the mind numbing task of painting. The hours crawled by in relative silence and the house eventually began to shine with glee as its old, flaking paint was replaced. Finally, the job was complete and the three painters – err, Genin – were dismissed. Sasuke left as quickly as possible, while Naruto stayed behind. He needed information.

"Oi, Hatake." Naruto said, stopping Kakashi who was about to head home.

"It's Kakashi-sensei, Naruto." Kakashi said, his one lazy eye focusing on Naruto.

"You haven't taught me anything, Hatake." Naruto said. "Maybe if you answer a few of my questions, I'll call you Sensei."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "No, I won't tell you what's under my mask…"

"I don't care about that." Naruto said.

"Well, what is it then?" Kakashi asked, his eye returning to its usual lazy look.

"Tell me how the Sharingan first manifests itself."

Of all the things Kakashi thought Naruto would ask him, this certainly wasn't one of them. The only reason Naruto would be asking him personally would be because Naruto knew he had the Sharingan. While his Sharingan was not a huge secret, it wasn't common information. Kakashi assumed Jiraiya told Naruto about it.

'But why does he want to know?' Kakashi could think of no reason Naruto would want to know the answer to his question. His surprise was obviously quite obvious as Naruto continued, answering Kakashi's mental question.

"I thought if I could get the Uchiha to active his Sharingan we'd be better as a team." Naruto explained. "With both the Sharingan and Byakugan working together we would have an advantage no other team would have."

'_Hatake should accept that explanation_,' Naruto thought. '_I can't tell him the real reason, after all. I promised Itachi-sensei that if I were to meet his little brother I would help him and learn off him. About the only thing I can learn off the Uchiha right now is how the Sharingan works, and how to counter it. Only, he doesn't have the Sharingan yet, so he's useless to me until he does.'_

"Well, I guess… I don't really know." Kakashi finally said. Thinking back on what he knew of the Sharingan, and how he acquired it, Kakashi gave it his best guess. "It activates when you need it."

"That really doesn't help me much." Naruto said, folding his arms.

Kakashi elaborated. "I guess it responds to the will to protect yourself, providing the odds are big enough. It's not going to manifest if you just want to see the wind blow. But if you're going to die if you _don't_ see the wind blow, it will. It's not like the Byakugan, which everyone in the Hyuuga clan is born with. It only appears in a few of the Uchiha – those who encounter life and death situations."

"Life and death, huh?" Naruto said, thinking.

Kakashi nodded. "Sasuke is still pretty young, though, so even if such a situation arises it may not manifest. Only one person has activated their Sharingan before the age of twelve, so it would be a remarkable occurrence."

"We'll see." Naruto said, the smirk on his face hidden by his high collar.

"Whatever you're planning, Naruto, make sure you don't actually kill Sasuke." Kakashi added in a warning tone. "I don't even want to think about the chain of events that would lead to."

Naruto didn't answer, but nodded.

"Is that all you wanted to ask me?" Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded once again. "For now."

Kakashi turned to leave. "See you tomorrow then. I suggest you see what Hinata wants. She's been waiting patiently for us to finish."

Naruto turned, unsure of what Kakashi meant, only to see Hinata watching him. Remembering they had planned to train together today, he quickly jogged over to the waiting Hyuuga.

"Ah, sorry about that, Hinata!" Naruto said, grinning sheepishly. "Are you ready to train?"

Hinata nodded. Naruto grasped Hinata's hand, and began to lead her toward the nearest training field, apparently unaware of the sudden redness appearing on Hinata's cheeks.

Hinata let herself be led by Naruto. Looking at their joint hands, a tiny, happy smile appeared on her face.

She couldn't see Naruto's smirk.

* * *

Naruto watched passively as Hinata destroyed another clone, while mentally he gained the clone's knowledge. '_She's doing well.' _Naruto thought, pleased. He had asked Hinata to activate her Byakugan and practice hitting the Tenketsu of moving targets. With her Byakugan activated, Hinata was very good at both defending and attacking, seeing weakness easily and taking advantage quickly. So far, no clone had landed a significant blow on Hinata, despite it currently being four against one. Through the clone's knowledge, Naruto realized Hinata's accuracy when trying to hit Tenketsu precisely was relatively low, but seemed to be improving. Naruto had no doubt that one day Hinata would hit with 100 accuracy. 

Naruto created yet another clone to attack Hinata, only to have it destroyed in a matter of seconds. '_This is too easy for her._' Naruto thought. He decided to mix things up a little. Creating another clone, Naruto waited in anticipation of what was to come.

Hinata was actually enjoying herself. She blocked a weak kick to her side easily, slamming her fingers into the clone's leg and shutting a Tenketsu off then grabbed the clone's arm, spun and threw the wounded clone into another that was about to stab her back with a kunai. The two clones vanished in a cloud of smoke, only to be replaced by two more charging through the smoke. Hinata simply slammed each of her palms into the clones' chests and released a burst of chakra, increasing the size of the smoke cloud that now engulfed her. Seeing through the smoke with her Byakugan, Hinata rushed towards the last remaining clone. Seeing the clone cover its face with its arms, trying to block the attack, Hinata couldn't help but feel… giddy. You can't a block Jyuuken attack!

Thrusting her palm forward, Hinata suddenly found her target completely surrounded by a sphere of yellow spikes. Unable to stop her hand's progress in time, the Hyuuga let out a cry of pain as her hand found itself impaled on the long, hard, needlelike spines. Still managing to release a burst of chakra despite the pain, Hinata was engulfed by a cloud of smoke as the clone was destroyed. Falling back and clutching her hand to her chest, she watched as hundreds of droplets of blood appeared on her hand and arm.

Hinata looked up as Naruto crouched beside her, unshed tears in her Byakugan-engulfed eyes.

Naruto pulled a bandage out of a coat pocket and began bandaging Hinata's hand. He never really knew why he kept bandages, since he always healed so quickly, but now he was thankful that he did. As he was dressing the wounds, Naruto spoke softly.

"Whenever you attack someone, they're going to be looking for ways to attack you. You must always expect a counterattack, and it could come in any form."

Naruto finished what he was doing and stood. "You cannot always be reliant on one technique to fight everybody, Hinata, no matter how perfect it seems. Jyuuken may be one of the most powerful Taijutsu styles, but there are counters to it. I hope I've proven that to you."

Hinata nodded, her eyes no longer threatened by tears. "I-I understand, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled. "Great! You were doing awesome before that, Hinata. I had to make it harder for you because it was too easy!" '_And now I know that __**Hari Jizo**__ isn't the best counter to Jyuuken. If they release enough chakra, it could still enter the body from a distance and do damage.'_

Hinata stood, smiling softly at Naruto's praise. It was good that he was mixing their training up. She wouldn't get strong enough to lead her clan by killing defenseless clones! But if the clones fight back using jutsu like that, maybe then… maybe then she would get enough experience to fight properly when the time came.

"How about we call it a day?" Naruto asked Hinata.

Hinata nodded, thinking it would be best to get some rest and heal up a little before doing any more training. "I will go home now and have lunch, Naruto-kun." Hinata said.

"Alright. I think I'll train by myself for a bit." Naruto said.

Hinata looked at her feet. She had hoped that Naruto would want lunch as well, and if so, maybe… they could have lunch together. Hinata struggled with herself, trying to find the courage to ask her blonde team mate if he was hungry.

As Hinata opened her mouth to speak, Naruto's voice stopped her. "I guess I'll see you later then, Hinata!"

"B-bye, Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly, and turned to leave.

* * *

Naruto sighed in frustration. He simply could not figure out a way to adapt his Taijutsu style to incorporate a weapon. The idea of wrist blades, while initially appealing as they provided a new, deadly and surprising addition to his Taijutsu seemed to be more of hassle than an advantage. Naruto could not find a way to smoothly change between an open palmed attack and bladed wrist attack. Naruto had to change the style of his attack before the blow would land in order to utilize a wrist weapon, which would be obvious to his opponent who could the take proper counter measures. 

Naruto tried a few different attacks in different stances before finally admitting to himself that wrist blades wouldn't be a viable choice of weapon for him. Releasing the stance he had been in and returning to his normal, relaxed posture, Naruto became aware that someone was watching him. Activating his Akaigan and preparing his body for instantaneous action if necessary, Naruto turned to face the direction of the intruder. Naruto expected the intruder to be an assassin, as no one else would have reason for visiting him at this training ground. He was surprised then when his eyes feel upon the kunoichi he had met on the day he became a Genin.

Realizing she had been spotted, the kunoichi walked towards Naruto. "Fancy meeting you here again. It's Naruto, right?"

Looking around, it became clear that this training field was indeed the place they had first met.

"Tenten?" Naruto said half to himself as he wasn't entirely sure the name was right. As the kunoichi nodded, an idea came to Naruto. "You're just the kind of person I need to talk to."

"Why is that?" Tenten asked, confused.

"After our first meeting, I had thought about combining a weapon with my Taijutsu style, but I can't get anything to work." Naruto said.

"What weapons did you think of?" Tenten questioned.

"Wrist blades," Naruto said, acquiring a loose Hyuuga stance, "but I'll show you my problem."

Making a few weak attacks against his imaginary target, Naruto explained to Tenten the problems he had when trying to use his imaginary wrist blades. Slipping into another stance to further demonstrate, Tenten's eyes widened slightly. As Naruto continued to explain the complications he was having, Tenten's curiosity got the best of her.

"Naruto, that style – what is it?" Tenten said.

"It doesn't have a name." Naruto said, instantly suspicious. _'This could be bad.'_ "Why do you ask?"

"It just looks very similar to the Taijutsu my team mate uses." Tenten said.

'_That does not bode well at all.' _Naruto thought. "That's strange. Who is your team mate?"

"Hyuuga Neji." Tenten said, confirming Naruto's suspicions. _'Shit!'_

"Wow!" Naruto chuckled, easily hiding his anxiety. "I didn't know it looked similar to the famous Hyuuga Taijutsu! But don't you need some kind of Bloodline Limit to use their style?"

Tenten nodded. There was no way you could use Jyuuken without the Byakugan. "Yes. It must just be a strange coincidence that your stances are similar."

Naruto continued to chuckle. "Yes, strange indeed! What are the odds of that?"

Seemingly dismissing the strange occurrence, to Naruto's unseen relief, Tenten continued to evaluate his problems. "It seems to me that trying to add weapon attacks with that kind of style would be pointless. It's Taijutsu for a reason – you only use your hands and feet. Adding weapons seems to make the _Tai_jutsu pointless, don't you think?"

Naruto agreed with Tenten's assessment. Well, he was willing to agree to anything if it didn't involve the words 'Hyuuga' or 'Jyuuken'.

"But…" Tenten said, thinking. "It seems to me it's not really the weapon you want, but the surprise elemental they could have."

Naruto was surprised by this. He hadn't thought of it that way, but Tenten was exactly right. Not showing his lack of thought, Naruto simply nodded. "That's correct."

"I may have the perfect thing for you, Naruto!" Tenten said, an excited look crossing her face. "My father has been working on a new weapon for years, and it is now ready to be tested. I think it fits your personality perfectly."

"My personality?" Naruto asked, confused.

Tenten gave a short nod, a smile on her face. "You'll understand when you see it. Follow me!"

Naruto, curious and perplexed at the same time, allowed himself to follow the older Genin out of the training field, and into Konoha.

* * *

Tenten finally stopped outside a two storied building. Entering the building, Naruto realized it was a large weapons store. Leading Naruto past the rows of weapons, Tenten ascended a staircase at the back of the store. Following, Naruto entered onto the second floor which turned out to be a workshop. Benches and walls were lined with various tools and broken weapons, all neatly arrayed until they needed to be used or fixed. Standing in front of a long bench set into the back wall, a large man appeared to be working on something. 

Tenten wasted no time, quickly walking over to the muscular man.

"Papa, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Tenten spoke, getting the man's attention.

The man looked at Tenten, before briefly glancing in Naruto's directly. Turning back to his work, he spoke to Tenten.

"He doesn't look like a Hyuuga." The man, who Naruto now knew to be Tenten's father, said in a deep voice.

"Papa!" Tenten exclaimed, before lowing her voice. "This isn't Neji."

Naruto noticed a slight color change in Tenten's complexion with his Akaigan, but said nothing as Tenten's father put his tools down and faced him.

"What's ya name, boy-o?" The man asked gruffly.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said, noticing no change in the man's attitude as he said this.

"Name's Kaji." The man said, extending his hand which Naruto shook, his own hand dwarfed by Kaji's. "Now, what can I do for ya?"

"Uhh…" Naruto said, looking to Tenten.

Tenten, as if remembering why she brought Naruto here, answered for him. "I thought he would be a good candidate for your new invention."

Kaji gave Tenten a searching look. "Is that so?"

Looking Naruto up and down, he rubbed his unkempt beard with a scarred hand. "He does look the type. Hides himself with that big coat. Keeps a poker face on, too. Probably hides meaning in his words, as well. Weapon's gotta fit the user's personality, right Ten?"

"That's why I brought him, Papa. He wants a weapon he can surprise people with."

Kaji chortled, his muscular chest straining against the man's too-tight shirt. "He can certainly surprise with this."

Walking to a cupboard, Kaji removed what looked to Naruto like two hilt-less double-edged blades.

"My own invention." Kaji stated proudly. Seeing Naruto's confused look, Kaji turned a blade over to show it had a strange contraption with a strap 'attached' to it near the blade's tip. Realizing Naruto needed more explanation, Kaji strapped the contraption to his wrist. Surprisingly, the blade, though not physically attached to the contraption, _actually was_. How Naruto couldn't tell.

"Watch." Kaji said. The blade, which was around 12 inches in length, currently ran along the underside of his arm. Instantaneously, the blade had extended itself so that it was protruding out a good 10 inches from where it was strapped. Naruto knew that without his Akaigan he would not have seen it move as it was too fast.

Just as quickly, the blade retracted to its original position. Kaji quickly threw a punch, and just as the impact of the punch would have hit his invisible target, the blade instantly shot out, probably stabbing entirely through the torso of Mr.Invisible.

Naruto was quite impressed. It was an easily hidden weapon that seemed incredibly powerful. It didn't get in the way unless he needed it, and it was instantaneous. He pictured in his mind an opponent evading his Taijutsu attacks. Frustrated, Naruto threw another palm attack, only to have it miss by mere inches. The next attack was another palmed one, but this time, just as the opponent thought he was safe, a blade instantly made itself noticed. It was in his stomach.

Kaji seemed to know Naruto was impressed. "Ya like?"

"How does it work?" Naruto asked.

Kaji beamed at the question. "Ya use ya chakra to make the blade extend and retract. As for _how did I make it_, I'm not gonna say. I plan to sell these beauties and retire early, so no way am I gonna let secrets out."

"Where do I come in then?" Naruto said.

"These are only gonna sell if they get proven on the battlefield." Kaji admitted. "I retired from being a ninja when the wife died, and Ten prefers ranged attacks, so I can't have 'er do it. She asked 'er team since they're both Taijutsu crazies, but they refused; one sayin' the weapons are 'cowardly', crying that it was gonna 'darken his flames of youth', whatever the hell that means. And the Hyuuga... well, he's a Hyuuga."

"Why not get a Konoha Jounin to 'prove' them?" Naruto asked. Why would Kaji entrust a new weapon to him of all people?

Kaji shrugged his massive shoulders. "Most are too old to appreciate a new thing like this. They prefer to stick to the old tricks that they know they can rely on in a fight. Too set in their ways for their own good."

Naruto nodded, accepting the explaination. "How much?" He asked, remembering how much money he had: none.

"They're free, boy-o." Kaji said, smiling. Seeing Naruto's unbelieving look, he continued. "Ya will repay me by telling me everything ya learn about 'em, so I can take that information and improve them. We got a deal?"

Naruto barely thought before agreeing. A little information was nothing. After Kaji gave a quick tutorial on how to use the blades, Naruto was able to extend and retract the blades as quickly and easily as Kaji had. The blades were invisible under the long sleeves of his coat. All and all, they were perfect for Naruto.

"Thanks, both of you." Naruto said.

"Ya better treat 'em right, boy-o, or there'll be trouble." Kaji threatened.

Naruto nodded, promising he wouldn't treat Kaji's children badly. Looking to Tenten, Naruto spoke. "I'd like to practice with these a little. If you have time now, would you be able to help me, Tenten?"

"Sure thing, Naruto. I'd like to see them in action." Tenten said.

"Great!" Naruto said, looking to Kaji. "Thanks again, Kaji. We'll be leaving now."

Kaji watched as Naruto and Tenten walked away from the store. Folding his gorilla arms, he smiled.

"I'd rather a boy like that for my Tenten than any Hyuuga."

Kaji knew his wife was agreeing with him.

* * *

Chapter ends here----- 

Been busy lately, hence longer update time. Oh well, it wasn't more than a month.

More 'filler' in this chapter. I had planned to go a lot further in this chapter, to the start of the Zabuza arc to be exact, but as you can see I didn't get there. The chapter was getting to normal publishing length and I had only gotten through half of what I intended. My bad. ::sad face::

So hopefully, next chapter, we will be at the start of the 'action' plot and the story can get moving.

A few of my precious readers have wanted to know **where I am going with this story**. I do not want to spoil anything, but I will say a few things that will hopefully spike readers' interest.

Firstly, some events happening relatively soon will change Naruto's ideals, motivations, and goals.

Secondly, Itachi will be returning earlier than expected.

And thirdly, I have planned a huge plot twist/surprise for you precious readers in distant chapters (like, after the Konoha-Sound war). I doubt you'll see it coming, even though now you expect it. Yeah, it's just that shocking.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If the owners want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

**

* * *

Chapter 14**

As soon as they entered the training field, she attacked. Without any warning, Tenten withdrew a kunai and threw it at Naruto. Taken by complete surprise, Naruto narrowly avoided the projectile, only to be faced with many more as Tenten gradually made distance between herself and her target. She would throw, move as the projectiles were in the air, and repeat. Once she was 15 meters away, she stopped her constant barrage, merely throwing shuriken whenever Naruto tried to make a move.

Naruto remained passive as he calmly watched Tenten, assessing the situation while calculating the distance between himself and the brown-haired kunoichi. _'This might actually be fun.'_ He concluded. It was obvious Tenten wanted to keep a good distance between herself and Naruto, something Naruto was not accustomed to. He could think of several ways to end the fight quickly, but he wanted to see what Tenten was capable of. It was clear she thought she was merely toying with him currently.

Besides, Naruto wanted to test his new weapons out. As soon as he made a move to get closer, however, something always flew his way to stop him. Tenten certainly knew how to keep someone pinned down, and she was making it painfully obvious that she could wound him badly if she desired. The scratches she kept leaving on his face as kunai sped past were evidence enough of that. '_At least I still have access to Kyuu-chan's charka, even if she isn't speaking to me.'_ Naruto thought, the scratches healing as soon as they appeared.

'_Guess I should wipe that smug smile off her face.' _Naruto thought as he formulated how their battle would play out.

Tenten was enjoying herself. Naruto couldn't do a thing to her from this distance. She was the expert in ranged fighting, and he was at range. Smiling triumphantly at Naruto's predicament, she began spinning a shuriken on her finger. As if Naruto saw her idle weapon play as an opening, he began making hand seals.

'Too slow, Naruto.' Tenten thought, flicking her playful weapon finger to send the shuriken flying towards Naruto's hands.

Naruto had expected this. He had anticipated it. Of course, he was meant to stop his sealing and avoid the shuriken. '_But why do that when you can do this!' _Barely felling the shuriken imbed itself deeply into his right hand, he finished the sealing sequence he had begun.

The smile stayed on Tenten's face until it became apparent to her that Naruto had planned for something like this to happen. Realizing she had somehow fallen into a trap, Tenten prepared herself as best she could for whatever Naruto was going to do, not recognising the sealing sequence. In response to her preparation, Naruto visibly drew breath, filling his lungs in preparation for what he was about to do.

"**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" **A massive ball of flame shot out towards Tenten, the intense heat carbonizing the grass and scorching the earth. Throwing herself as high as she could Tenten still felt the extreme heat singe her eyebrows as the giant ball of fire continued on its destructive path below her, burning the ground she was standing on seconds before. Landing several meters from her initial position, Tenten watched wide-eyed as the fireball rapidly burnt itself out, disappearing as fast as it had appeared. All that was left was a heavy cloud of smoke and a creator-like path of scorched earth.

'_Now's my chance!' _Naruto thought, seeing Tenten standing, awed and distracted through the thick smoke with his Akaigan. He charged through the smoke, two blades instantly appearing out of the long sleeves of his jacket. He slashed out at Tenten, only to slice through air as Tenten rolled away from Naruto. Her awe vanished, she quickly withdrew a scroll from her pouch, and before Naruto could stop her, had summoned the two kama Naruto had seen her using when they first met.

"Let's see how good you are with those blades, Naruto!" Tenten said, deciding to take the aggressive role. While preferring long range fighting, Tenten knew she could hold her own if she was forced into melee. She was a master of all weapons, and equally dangerous with all, ranged or not. She attacked, slashing and spinning at Naruto, who dodged and parried as best he could.

Naruto was finding it rather easy to see and counter Tenten's attacks. He had no problem noticing where her weapons were with his Akaigan, despite the random spins and semi-attacks she continued to try and confuse him with. While his twin blades were new to him, he envisaged them as an extension of his flesh and in this way found it easy to incorporate them into his usual defensive stances. Still, some of Tenten's attacks did come incredibly close to connecting with his body. Deciding it best to end their little fight before it got too out of hand, Naruto shot his arm out, blade on target for Tenten's stomach.

'That's not going to work, Naruto.' Tenten thought, jumping back.

Only to find she couldn't move. Somehow, her arms were being held, preventing her from moving as she intended. Tenten could only watch in horror, the world slowing down to a crawl as the blade came closer and closer. Then it impacted her stomach. Closing her eyes, she let the pain wash over her as memories of her life – so tragically cut short – flashed through her mind.

'Is this what it's like to die?' Tenten thought, hearing the sounds of laughter, pain a mere memory to her. 'It's not so bad. But still, there were so many things I wanted to do before… I… died…'

Sighing, Tenten let the sounds of laughter wash over her, resigning herself to her fate. 'That laughter… it almost sounds like… Naruto?' Realisation dawning on her, Tenten opened her eyes to see Naruto doubled over, clutching his stomach and laughing.

Naruto had never allowed himself to laugh in a fight before, but there was a first time for everything. The look of horror and pain on Tenten's face was too much for Naruto to handle. He couldn't believe his little optical trick worked so well. As the blade was about to impact, Naruto had retracted it and merely gave Tenten's stomach a solid finger poke. Tenten's face had gone through a myriad of different expressions and her eyes had scrunched tightly shut as the 'blade' impacted. When it became obvious Tenten thought she was mortally wounded, Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

The two clones holding Tenten gave Naruto concerned looks, seemingly questioning his sanity, before letting go of Tenten and dispelling.

"Naruto…" Tenten growled.

Naruto had never really understood why Jiraiya feared being hit by an angry woman so much, but several minutes later he felt he could empathise with the old pervert. For once.

* * *

Naruto was alone, exhausted and panting heavily. Every day for the past week he had been at it, sometimes going hours without rest. His arms were growing tired due to the nature of his repetitive task, but he still wasn't completely satisfied. 

'**Do you never grow bored of playing with yourself?' **A familiar voice echoed through the mind of Naruto for the first time in weeks, causing him to stop what he was doing.

'Nice to hear you too, fox.' Naruto replied sardonically, but the fox's voice actually coming as a welcome relief from the silence of his own mind. 'And I play with myself because I don't have anyone to do it for me. Not well enough to satisfy my needs, anyway.'

'**Naruto-kun, if you let me out, **_**I **_**would be happy to help you.' **Kyuubi offered, seemingly still intent on using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to give her a corporal form to stretch her legs in.

Naruto thought about it for a moment, debating the advantages and disadvantages associated with giving her demonic mind a body. Besides making Kyuubi happy, and therefore Naruto happy, there were numerous advantages and few disadvantages. She was, after all, ancient in age, and while she didn't take on a human form very often she would still be experienced enough for Naruto's needs. And Naruto _was_ growing very bored of killing his own Kage Bunshin with his blades. Besides, he had promised two weeks ago to let Kyuubi out to make up for the rash and hurtful words he had said during his short Genjutsu training.

Deciding, Naruto asked what needed to be done in order for the jutsu to work.

'**I've told you before, just do your normal thing but use my chakra.' **Kyuubi replied happily.** 'I'll take care of the rest.'**

Shrugging, Naruto did as he was told. Creating a single clone in front of him, Naruto tried to imagine what Kyuubi would look like in a human form, but really had no idea. In any event, this jutsu was more Kyuubi's than Naruto. Keeping an open mind, Naruto was still surprised to see when the smoke cleared a tall, slender woman staring back at him with deep crimson eyes.

She appeared to be in her mid twenties with long, straight hair reaching past her slim waist. The hair framed her beautiful face as it proceeded on to cascade over her slender shoulders. The hair's golden color, similar to Naruto's own, was streaked with oranges and reds, making it seem as though it were alive as it drifted softly in the breeze, creating an effect likened to that of flames licking and dancing in the wind. Her flawless alabaster skin contrasted remarkably with her black… ninja garments?

Indeed, a tight, form-fitting T-shirt clung to the upper body accentuating more than hiding the woman's ample bust. Loose, knee-length black shorts complete with shuriken holster and a pair of black ninja sandals completed the outfit.

The woman smiled happily as she looked around. They were standing in the middle of a training field, the grass soft beneath their feet, the sun's warming rays shinning brightly from above.

"This is nice," Kyuubi sighed contently as she took in her surroundings.

Naruto continued to stare at the woman in front of him, his mind barely registering the fact that she was an ancient demon responsible for immeasurable terror and destruction. Eventually, crimson eyes turned to look into blue.

"What is it?" Kyuubi questioned, her voice soft, completely different from the booming, demonic voice Naruto associated her with. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, it's nothing." Naruto said, blinking for the first time in minutes.

Kyuubi looked Naruto up and down before frowning. "For some reason I thought you were taller than that." She chided. "Oh well, should we get started?" She added, stretching, her arms reaching into the air.

"With what?" Naruto questioned, clearly not paying attention.

"Training with those blades." Kyuubi said, bringing her hands together and cracking her knuckles. "Or have you forgotten what you've been doing non-stop everyday since I left? Not tired are we, my dear Naruto-kun?"

"No," Naruto replied, stretching his own arms into the air. "But aren't you just a normal Kage Bunhsin? Won't you just dispel when I hit you?"

A mischievous grin found its way onto Kyuubi's face. "Just try and hit me with those blades, Naruto-kun."

Shrugging, Naruto burst forward, body low and arm striking forward. Reacting instantly, Kyuubi jumped away swiftly, easily avoiding the attack despite its speed and technique.

While not visibly showing it, Naruto was pleasantly surprised. The woman had moved a lot faster than Naruto had thought possible. He thought her to be a mere Kage Bunshin, but he had clearly underestimated the fox. This was a clone filled with demonic chakra, its mind that of a great Youki containing eons of combat experience, after all. She was not to be underestimated.

After 5 minutes of chasing the elusive Kyuubi, however, Naruto was growing annoyed. Whenever he attacked, blades extended or withdrawn, Kyuubi was easily able to avoid the attack. Her speed and reflexes were like nothing Naruto had ever seen before, and he was unsure of how to counter it. Muttering under his breath, Naruto made several clones to help him chase the fiery vixen, but their efforts were in vain as the woman continued to slip through their fingers.

Trying his best to contain his annoyance, Naruto pulled his favorite trick - something no one was able to avoid as it was instantaneous. In a puff of smoke, two clones appeared already holding the kitsune, restraining her arms.

Only to be met with elbows to the face, their bodies disappearing before the smoke of their arrival cleared.

Kyuubi came to a stop and giggled, turning to Naruto with a playful look on her face. "Naruto-kun, I know you better than you know yourself. If you want to catch me, you'll need to think of something you would never think of doing!"

Growling angrily, and growing tired of Kyuubi's games, Naruto conceded.

"I give up, Kyuu-chan." Naruto called out, causing Kyuubi to pout and walk towards him.

"You're no fun." Kyuubi said as she walked towards Naruto, the pout still on her face.

As soon as Kyuubi was close to Naruto, his arm shot out, blade instantly appearing from within his sleeve, its sharp point piercing through Kyuubi's elegant throat. It exited with a burst of blood, the blade shinning a bright red as the sunlight caught it.

'**You… you…' **Kyuubi growled angrily, lusting to rip Naruto in two, but unable to in the refines of her cage.

'What?' Naruto smirked happily in his mind. 'You told me I needed to think of something I would never think of doing, so I did. You should know by now, Kyuu-chan, that I _never_ give up.'

* * *

Naruto left the training field intent on heading to his apartment for some food and sleep. Walking along the river that wound lazily through Konoha as a subtle way to practice his chakra control, Naruto came across an interesting sight. What appeared to be a large cloud of steam billowed into the sky just out of sight of Naruto. Curious, Naruto continued to follow the river around the next bend where he found the source of the steam. 

Sasuke, who was standing on the river bank, appeared to be practicing various Katon jutsu, evaporating large quantities of water in the process.

'So the Uchiha knows his fair share of Katon jutsu, does he?' Naruto thought as Sasuke sent several small balls of fire shooting out across the river, trails of steam following quickly behind.

Spotting an opportunity to act upon his idea to active Sasuke's Sharingan, Naruto created several clones which instantly rushed head long towards Sasuke. Without hesitation, Sasuke shook off his surprise at his team mate's completely sudden attack and defended against the clones' attacks, backing away and avoiding the clones' attempts to surround the young Uchiha.

'He's certainly got some skills,' Naruto thought as Sasuke managed to deflect several flying kunai while simultaneously stab another clone attacking from his side, causing it to burst into a cloud of smoke. 'But that alone won't be enough.'

Suddenly, all four remaining clones changed their Taijutsu style. Their weak, inaccurate attacks instantly morphed into swift, precise strikes. Completely unprepared by the abrupt change in style, Sasuke felt stinging blows rain down upon his body. Unable to see, let alone counter such a swift barrage from multiple sides, Sasuke felt himself begin to stumble and falter in his attempts at both defending and counterattacking. Becoming desperate, Sasuke threw himself into the air, breathing in deeply as he rose, watching as 4 amused faces grinned up at him. Black eyes filled with contempt and fury glared back, only to light up like coals as a huge ball of fire forced its way out of Sasuke's mouth, engulfing the 4 grinning Naruto below.

'Not bad, not bad at all,' Naruto thought as the inferno burnt itself out. 'But you won't live long without the Sharingan. That attack must have taken a lot of chakra.'

As Sasuke began to descend, 10 clones appeared below him, each smirking, waiting in various combat stances for Sasuke to finally land. Only this time, it was not flesh that Sasuke would feel rain down upon him, rather sharp steel.

As soon as Sasuke's feet touched the ground, 10 sets of blades came slashing towards him. Doing his best to parry and counter, Sasuke couldn't help but be hit by some of the attacks, wounds seeping blood appearing all over his body, his clothes becoming slashed and ripped.

Desperation descending upon him, Sasuke slashed and flailed as much as he could to avoid the attacks, but it was becoming clear to him that he could not win, and would soon die of blood loss, if not from a fatal wound sooner. Desperation finally fully gripping him, Sasuke slashed out wildly at an incoming attacker, managing to strike first, dispelling the clone before it could connect with its blade. Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke spun around, catching an arm in his hand as he turned to kick another clone in the face. Turning back, the owner of the trapped arm smiled at Sasuke behind his coat before dispelling, the other clones leaving with him.

Confused, Sasuke looked around wildly; searching for more attacks or anything at all that could represent one. He thought he saw movement near the river, but the blinding sun reflected back off the water, preventing him from focusing. Dismissing it, Sasuke left the river's edge, clutching his bleeding wounds as he made his way to Konoha hospital. Thinking over what he knew about his long-haired team mate and replaying the fight in his mind, it became clear to Sasuke that Naruto had been holding back... something. What it was and how much remained to be seen, but Sasuke vowed silently that he would find out where Naruto's strength came from, and how he acquired it.

Naruto watched as Sasuke left the river, a content smile appearing on his face as the memory of two furious blood-red eyes with two black marks appeared in his mind.

"Sasuke," Naruto said quietly as the Uchiha fan on his back retreated slowly into the streets of Konoha, "I've helped you, now it's time for you to help me. Show me what your Sharingan can do."

Turning to the direction of his apartment, one last thought flashed through his mind.

'_Itachi-sensei, we will grow strong enough for you.'_

* * *

It had been two months since Naruto had first come to Konoha, and things had been developing for him well. He had learnt an immense amount of information about the Jyuuken style from Hinata during their frequent training sessions, and as a result her ability to hit the Tenketsu in even moving targets had developed into over 90 accuracy. 

Naruto now let Kyuubi 'out' almost daily, but in spite of this was still unable to strike her. As a result of their blitzing game of chase, however, Naruto's speed had skyrocketed in a short time, but he was still no closer to catching the kitsune. He vowed that one day he would catch the elusive nine tails.

He had also kept his promise to Kaji in that he reported all his findings and suggestions for improving the weapons Kaji had given him. As a result, the blades were now hidden by Genjutsu in their 'resting' position, and could have a paralyzing poison applied to them at will. Kaji and Naruto were also working on developing a way to channel chakra through the blades in order to both strengthen and lengthen the blade, providing yet another surprise attack.

Sasuke's attitude towards Naruto had also changed. Before their river-side battle, Sasuke had rarely acknowledged him; never talking to him and barely ever looking his way. Since then, while still never engaging in any meaningful conversation, he had changed from outright ignoring Naruto's presence to calculatingly observing his behaviour, as if trying to solve some mental problem that was plaguing him. Naruto doubted he would any time soon.

One thing that hadn't changed throughout the long weeks in Konoha, however, were the entirely pointless missions they were continuously being given.

And Naruto was sick of it. They all were. And they were not happy. Not happy at all. And now, the Hokage knew it.

"Very well, Kakashi, I will give your team a C-rank mission." The Hokage concluded. Turning his head, he spoke to an awaiting Chuunin. "Bring him in."

An old man shuffled drunkenly through the doorway, bottle in hand. He looked on the three young beings that were to protect him with barely hidden disgust.

"These are the ninja that are meant to protect me?" He asked drunkenly, taking a swig from his bottle as he did so. "Bunch of brat kids and a one-eyed ninja?"

"Kakashi, this is Tazuna. He needs an escort to Wave country. See he gets there, your team should have no trouble."

"Very well, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, bowing deeply. Turning, Kakashi looked at his team.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, let's go." Kakashi said enthusiastically.

"Hai!" Hinata replied obediently, the only one to respond.

"…" Sasuke said, turning and walking out the door.

"…" Naruto said, face expressionless. 'It's not gardening work,' Naruto thought 'and it gets me out of the village.'

**'There might even be fighting!' **Kyuubi added.

Naruto followed Sasuke out of the building. 'True. And it _has_ been a long time since I've had a good fight.'

* * *

Chapter ends here----- 

Yeah yeah, it's been a while. I'm sorry. In my defense, I had exams and then went overseas on holiday. Don't hate me!

Anyway, now that the 'action plot' has started (aka: I'll be following the anime/manga plot more than I have been), this story will hopefully move along more quickly, and I'll hopefully update more quickly!

We always have hope, right?

Thank you for the reviews.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that stuff. If they want this story removed and deleted I will do so.

Summary: Itachi wants someone powerful to fight him, so he can properly measure his capacity. How does the future change when he decides Naruto is a possible measure?

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Team 7 walked in comfortable silence, broken only occasionally by mutterings from the drunken bridge builder they were hired to escort. They had been walking slowly away from Konohagakure for several hours under the bright afternoon sun, stopping only briefly to eat a light meal.

"How did I get stuck with a bunch of kids again?" Tazuna slurred for the umpteenth time as they continued to trudge steadily on in their journey.

"Because," Kakashi said, lazily following behind the others, "you paid for a C-rank mission, Tazuna. I can assure you this team is capable of handling the thugs and thieves you've hired us to protect you against."

Tazuna sent a resentful glare back at Kakashi before taking a swig from his bottle and increasing his walking pace.

"He's right," Naruto called back, several meters ahead of the core group. "Wave country doesn't have any shinobi so there's little chance of any dangerous combat." The lack of enthusiasm in Naruto's voice was not lost of the rest of the group, who got the impression Naruto_wanted _a fight.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel the same disappointment as Naruto. He needed to test his skills against real, _enemy_ shinobi to know how close he was to attaining his revenge. And he was dying to use _that_in real combat.

Hinata walked silently beside Tazuna, intending her presence to be of some comfort to Tazuna in the event of an attack. Her training with Naruto over the past months had inspired a confidence in her she didn't realise she had, which in turn caused her abilities as a ninja to improve visibly, boosting her confidence even more.

"That's correct, Naruto." Kakashi said. "But how did you know Wave country had no shinobi? The country is not very well known."

"I travelled a lot," was Naruto's reply. "You can't go somewhere without knowing something about the destination's politics and customs or you'll run into unwanted trouble."

As he was speaking, Naruto's foot splashed into an inconveniently placed puddle, mud splashing his white coat. Naruto, however, could only smile as he realised what the puddle meant.

'Ne, Kyuu-chan, wake up' Naruto called out in his mind. 'We might see some action soon!'

Naruto continued on his way without stopping, although the whites of his eyes developed a very slight pink tinge; his vision sharpening and focusing well beyond normal human perception.

'**Oh?'**Kyuubi asked groggily. Naruto got the mental image of a fox blinking the sleep out of its eyes.

'Yep. Poor stealth, can't be higher than Chuunin in rank. Probably Mist or Rain ninja.'

'**Chuunin? You woke me up for that?'** Kyuubi muttered tiredly, her voice sounding disappointed.

'I know you want to see some bloodshed, Kyuu-chan.' Naruto countered, sensing that Kakashi had now passed the puddle without stopping. 'Don't you demons have a monthly bloodshed quota that needs to be fulfilled?'

'**I'm hurt you think that, Naruto-kun. You obviously haven't realised just how nice I can be.'**

'Is that right? You'll have to show me some time.'

'**I'm sure you'd enjo-'**

Kyuubi's reply was cut short as a shout rang out from behind Naruto, who turned just in time to see Kakashi's body torn into bloody chunks.

"One down!"

Naruto watched as two Mist Chuunin jointly carrying a deadly looking chain between them ran towards, and then behind Hinata trying to encircle her in the same way they had Kakashi in order to tear her to pieces.

Hinata paused only briefly from the shock of the ninja's sudden arrival before falling into a loose Jyuuken stance, her Byakugan activated and a kunai in hand. As the two Mist nin charged towards her, their progress was cut abruptly short as Sasuke immobilised their chain with strategically placed kunai and shuriken, pinning the chain connecting the two ninja to a tree.

Launching himself on to the two enemy ninjas' giant metallically clawed arms Sasuke paused only briefly, seemingly deciding what to do. Taking a moment to gain his balance, Sasuke kicked the two ninja simultaneously, causing the two to break apart, the chain binding them snapping in the process.

Now free from their bindings, the two enemy ninja quickly recovered and charged rapidly at separate targets. One tried to once again get behind Hinata who was guarding Tazuna, but was easily able to follow his movements with her Byakugan. The other ran at Sasuke who had now activated his Sharingan, allowing him to easily avoid the large metallic claw of his opponent. Sasuke smiled at how easy it was to see the ninja's movements. The weapon was slow, and left a lot of room for a counterattack from a ranged attack. Spotting his opponent overextending himself for the third time in as many lunges, Sasuke decided that next time he would take the opportunity to _heat things up a little. _With that, he began making hand seals.

Hinata's opponent was attempting hit and run tactics on the young Hyuuga, mostly trying to get past her to attack Tazuna. Hinata was defending herself and Tazuna well enough but was having a hard time counterattacking against the massive bulk of the Chuunin's weapon. The long metallic hand seemed grafted to the ninja's left arm and was sufficient enough to keep himself out of Hinata's range of attack, allowing him to attack without any real fear of a counter attack.

As Hinata's opponent retreated once more only to prepare another attack, Naruto thought about getting involved. He was calmly watching the battle rage on from several meters away, content to let his team mates fight for themselves. It was quickly becoming clear however that although Hinata was holding her own, she couldn't defend forever. She didn't have enough experience to take down a Chuunin with such a formidable weapon. While it was nice to see what his team mates were capable of, it wouldn't look good if he stood there and let them die.

Deciding, Naruto sprinted forward just as the Mist ninja ran in to assault Hinata once again. It was clear that the Chuunin had forgotten about Naruto, and he didn't notice as the blonde came up behind him, Naruto's two blades extended to their full length. When the Mist ninja drew his massive arm back to strike out at Hinata, Naruto slashed out with his right arm, the razor-sharp blade cutting deeply into the enemy's back leaving a foot long gash. Crying out in pain, the ninja spun around to face Naruto, the mask on his face doing little to hide the pain he was in. Not hesitating for a second, Naruto slashed out with his other arm, aiming for the throat. The Chunnin only just managed to move his heavy arm up in time to block the blow, leaving his stomach wide open to attack.

Easily spotting the opening with his sharp, chakra-enchanced eyes, Naruto launched a swift kick into the ninja's midriff, causing him to double over, gasping for air. Now seeing the ninja's vulnerable back exposed, Naruto retracted his blades and slammed an open palm into the ninja's left shoulder, releasing as much chakra as he could from his palm as he did so. The ninja screamed out in pain, right hand instantly clutching his left shoulder as his heavy claw suddenly hung uselessly at his side, the muscles and chakra system in his left shoulder mangled beyond repair by the explosion of foreign chakra. Grabbing the ninja's now useless arm, Naruto twisted it behind his opponents back as far as he could, soon hearing a sickening 'Pop!' as the ninja's shoulder dislocated. The man let out another scream of agony, falling to his knees as he did so, unable to stand due to the pain.

The commotion his cries caused did not go unnoticed by his comrade. His attention turned from Sasuke, who had proved impossible to hit, and had managed to both cut and burn the Chuunin, to his fellow ninja. Seeing his brother screaming in pain caused him to charge towards Naruto, masked face not concealing the fury in his eyes. His rage was put to an abrupt end as Kakashi appeared out of no where, immediately knocking out the enraged Chuunin with a swift blow to the back of the neck.

'**I think you over did it a little,'** Kyuubi observed as the injured Mist shinobi attempted to crawl away from Naruto, who merely observed his attempts at escape without emotion.

'True,' Naruto agreed, thinking he may have done more than necessary. 'But that weapon made him dangerous. I did what I thought was required to end that threat.'

Realising the battle was virtually over, Naruto turned to Hinata. Her Byakugan engulfed eyes were wide and she was staring at Naruto with an expression Naruto couldn't quite place. Forcing a smile, Naruto spoke. "Hinata, can you disable this guy's legs, please?"

Not even acknowledging that she had heard him, Hinata silently proceeded to close the Tenketsu in the Mist nin's legs, preventing him from moving.

"Now," Naruto said, turning to the disabled Chuunin who was still clutching his useless arm, anguish etched over his features, "who sent you and why are you here?"

The Chuunin merely groaned in pain. Naruto sighed. He didn't _enjoy_ inflicting pain, but he realised and accepted its necessity in the real world. You couldn't flinch or hesitate or hold back, as it could be the last thing you do.

"If you don't talk," Naruto continued. "I'm going to have to do the same to your other arm."

Unseen by Naruto, Hinata's eyes widened even further as he said this. She was seeing a side of Naruto that she hadn't realised existed. While he had been harsh in her training with her at times, he had never been_cruel_. Kakashi watched impassively, while Sasuke - his eyes returned to their usual onyx black - studied Naruto, trying to figure out how Naruto had so completely incapacitated his opponent while Sasuke himself had only caused minor damage to his opponent.

"It was…" The ninja finally gasped, "…Zabuza… Momochi Zabuza. He told us to kill the old man."

'A missing nin, eh?' Naruto thought, having heard the name somewhere before. 'Things might get more interesting, Kyuu-chan.'

'**Mmhmm,'** Kyuubi replied. **'You should be more careful though. You've let a lot slip today.'**

'What do you mean?' Naruto asked.

'**I'll tell you when you let me out later.' **

'_If _I let you out.' Naruto corrected.

Kakashi approached Tazuna when he heard this. "We haven't heard anything about ninjas being after you, especially ones as powerful as Momochi Zabuza. Our mission was simply to protect you from thieves or thugs. This mission has become at least a B-rank mission, A-rank if Zabuza gets involved."

Kakashi turned back to the still conscious Mist nin. "These two are Chunnin Nukenin from Kirigakure. They are well known, called "The Demon Brothers" for their willingness to continue fighting; even until they die. Though, it seems that without the use of their favoured weapon their reputation fails them."

Sighing heavily, Kakashi looked at his team, clearly thinking. "You guys did well, I'm proud of you. Especially you, Hinata, you protected Tazuna instinctively and fought better than I thought possible. Sasuke, you have obviously been practicing with your Sharingan. To become that proficient at such a young age is rare. You also used some Katon jutsu that I haven't seen you use before. Naruto… you obviously acted in the way you thought best, and obtained some valuable information, though in a way that was not according to my initial plan."

Once again looking at the silently shaking Mist nukenin and then back at Tazuna, a frown was easily evident on Kakashi's masked face. "However, even with that impressive display, Momochi Zabuza is on a completely different level. I cannot allow this mission to continue with the possibility of higher ranked missing nin showing up."

At that, both Naruto and Sasuke frowned, while Hinata looked disheartened. Tazuna looked outright fearful, his drunkenness doing little to quell the anxiety he felt at the possibility of continuing without ninjas protecting him. At the impressive show the three _kids_ had shown during their ambush, Tazuna had been feeling a lot safer to be under their protection. But now that they were apparently unable to continue their mission, despair washed over him. The anxiety Tazuna was feeling had a sobering affect on his drunken mind, the weight of his predicament crushing his spirit. If he didn't have an escort, he would likely die. If he died, the bridge would not be completed. If the bridge wasn't completed, then his country would continue to fall into ruin under Gato's tyranny. It wasn't _his _life that Tazuna was worried about, but the lives of those he would leave behind if he failed.

"Please," Tazuna pleaded, "if I don't complete the bridge, my country will fall into despair under Gato's monopoly. This bridge is my people's only hope to escape the poverty they're in."

"Gato?" Naruto asked, turning his gaze from the now unconscious missing-nin to the old man. "Isn't he that rich shipping company owner?"

Tazuna nodded vigorously, his attention focusing on Naruto. "If we don't finish the bridge, Gato will continue to monopolize trade and transport. Wave country cannot afford his outrageous prices, so we need this bridge for travel and trade. Gato has hired ninjas to kill me so that this doesn't happen."

"The solution is simple then," Naruto said thoughtfully, "we just need to take out Gato. Without him, no one would have a problem with the bridge being built, and with no one to pay their mission since Gato would be dead, Zabuza will have no reason to attack."

"A fine idea, Naruto, but we have no idea where Gato is, or what he's like." Kakashi reasoned. "Even if we did, I cannot allow anyone to go on a mission with so much danger."

Naruto didn't let up. "I have worked for Gato before, Hatake. He doesn't trust ninjas, and so only keeps regular samurai as personal body guards. As for where he is, he always makes his presence known so that any missing-nin looking for 'work' can easily find him. His is a popular employer of many, always making good on deals if you do what he asked."

If Kakashi was surprised by Naruto's knowledge he didn't show it. Sasuke wondered about just how many dangerous missions Naruto had been on before coming to Konoha. Hinata continued to watch Naruto with apprehension, wondering what enabled Naruto to matter-of-factly discuss an assassination mission with their sensei.

Kakashi wasn't convinced, however. "Even if that's true, I will not allow any member of my team to endanger themselves on such an unnecessary missio-"

"I have never failed to complete a mission," Naruto interrupted, "and I'm not about to start now. I can dispose of Gato and be back here before the sun sets today."

Kakashi didn't doubt that what Naruto said was true, but he still wasn't comfortable with the whole idea, and he certainly didn't want his team to split up and go on different missions. His primary concern was protecting his team - that came before anything else. But still, Kakashi reasoned, he had a duty to his client, and had heard about Gato's schemes before this. He did not doubt Tazuna's word that he would die without their help, and the bridge that an entire country was relying on would never be completed. Even if the bridge was somehow completed, Gato would continue to scheme and undermine the people of the country until he somehow had absolute control over them again. Naruto's plan to _take care_ of Gato would ensure the peace of the people in the Land of Waves.

"Very well, Naruto. I agree to your suggestions." Kakashi finally conceded. "We will continue with our mission and protect Tazuna, providing everyone is in agreement."

Sasuke nodded quickly. The possibility of stronger opponents turning up did little to discourage him. Though the idea of Naruto going off on his own, on an assassination mission no less, irked him greatly, he wasn't about to let that stop the mission from continuing.

Hinata was less decisive. She didn't know what to think about this new side of Naruto she was seeing. That Naruto was suggestion dangerous assassination missions in order for the group to continue on an even more dangerous mission was startling. However, Hinata did not want her first big mission to be a failure. Besides, she slowly began realising, she had just experienced her first _real_ fight with a dangerous ninja, and she wasn't dead! She had succeeded in completing her mission – Tazuna was alive – and she even held her own against a higher ranking ninja. The realisation inspired more confidence in Hinata than she thought was possible. She was ready to face whatever else life could throw at her.

Finally nodding with as much confidence as she now felt, Hinata agreed.

"We are in agreement then - we will continue." Kakashi said, much to Tazuna's relief. Kakashi moved to tie the unconscious Demon Brothers up, and the rest moved to clean the area of spent kunai and shuriken, salvaging what they could. When they were ready to leave, Kakashi used a summoning jutsu to summon a small nin-dog to send a message back to Konoha.

"Let's get going," Kakashi said when he was done.

The group started to head, moving at a brisk walking pace. After several minutes they came to a crossroads. Naruto paused for a moment, glancing at the signposts. Stopping, he turned to the rest of the group.

"Gato will most likely be in a mansion to the west of here," Naruto said, pointing down one of the roads. "I'll be going this way. Expect me to return in a few hours. If you keep going at this pace, I should catch up easily."

Kakashi nodded. "Be careful, Naruto." He levelled his one visible eye on Naruto and his voice became serious. "I'm only letting you do this because Jiraya-sama has a high opinion of you. I wouldn't let any other Genin do what you're about to do. I hope you understand that."

Naruto gave a short nod as Sasuke glared at him angrily. 'Is he saying I'm not as good as him?' Sasuke thought.

Naruto created a single clone. "I'll leave this guy with you," he said, nodding to the clone. "If anything happens, I'll know and come to help."

"Good idea," Kakashi said, nodding his approval. "Good luck, Naruto."

Naruto's smirk was hidden by his large coat as he vanished in a burst of speed. The group was left standing in silence for a moment before Kakashi turned and led the way down another road.

Hinata followed, but soon paused to activate her Byakugan. She wanted to see – if she was able – where Naruto was heading. All she saw, however, was something that left her wondering.

'Why is Naruto with someone? And why does that person have red chakra?'

* * *

"So," Naruto said as he ran along side Kyuubi, who was happily jumping from tree to tree near the road they were following as they sped towards their destination, "what did I let slip earlier today?" 

"Oh, that." Kyuubi replied easily as she flipped gracefully through the air, her long, flame-like hair flowing after her. "It was just a few little things, really."

"Such as..?" Naruto pressed.

"Well for one, you kept your Akaigan activated during the fight, despite both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha having their bloodline limits activated. If they were paying attention, they would have noticed the concentration of my chakra in your eyes." Kyuubi paused as she launched herself to Naruto's side, landing softly before continuing on at the same speed.

"You also used that taijutsu of yours directly in front of the girl. If she didn't notice the chakra in your eyes, she at least saw that huge burst of chakra. She might not think much of it right now, but with enough of those slip ups she'll start wondering."

As Naruto started pondering the complications of the last fight, Kyuubi sped ahead. Looking back over her shoulder, she called out. "You're too slow, Naruto-kun."

"Stupid fox, it's harder to run when you wear weights like me."

Kyuubi smirked back at Naruto. "Even if you took them off you couldn't catch me." She taunted.

Naruto was about to reply when knowledge of his clone's memories came to him. Abruptly stopping, Naruto assessed the situation. From his clone's memories, Naruto became aware that Kakashi, Hinata, Sasuke and Tazuna had been ambushed by Zabuza. Kakashi had instantly turned to Naruto's clone and told the clone to make Naruto return.

Kyuubi had stopped and was now watching Naruto curiously. He was clearly thinking quickly. "Naruto-kun? What is it?"

"My team needs help." Naruto stated. Looking towards Kyuubi, her flawless white skin contrasting with her black ninja clothes, Naruto had an idea. "I need to return to them, but I don't want to fail this extra mission. I still need Gato to die."

Smiling, Naruto sized up Kyuubi. "Nee, Kyuu-chan, want to have some fun?"

* * *

Chapter ends here------ 

I know, I know. I'm probably the worst author at updating ever. I have no excuses for you all this time, but I'll do better!


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